Marconnet ruled out of Six Nations

FRANCE prop Sylvain Marconnet has been ruled out of the rest of the RBS 6 Nations Championship after suffering a serious injury while on a skiing holiday.

The Stade Francais front-row forward, who has 71 caps for Les Bleus, sustained a double fracture of the shinbone and fibula and could be out for around four months.

Pieter De Villiers comes in for Marconnet, while Sale Sharks number eight Sebastien Chabal makes his return in place of Elvis Vermeulen.