Marconnet 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.

He was therefore a notable absentee in France’s 22-man squad that will take on England in the Six Nations at Twickenham next Sunday.

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

There are five changes overall from the squad that beat Wales 32-21 last weekend.

Chabal’s Sale team-mate Sebastien Bruno is back-up hooker to captain Raphael Ibanez, meaning Benoit August drops out.

Pascal Pape returns at lock in place of Gregory Lamboley, while Toulouse winger Cedric Heymans is preferred to Aurelien Rougerie.

France are unbeaten in this season’s Six Nations, with games against England and Scotland remaining.

France squad for next Sunday’s match against England.

Forwards: Olivier Milloud (Bourgoin), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Pieter De Villiers (Stade Francais), Raphael Ibanez (Wasps, capt), Sebastien Bruno (Sale), Lionel Nallet, Pascal Pape (both Castres), Jerome Thion, Serge Betsen (both Biarritz), Julien Bonnaire (Bourgoin), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Sebastien Chabal (Sale).

Backs: Pierre Mignoni (Clermont-Auvergne), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), David Skrela, Lionel Beauxis (both Stade Francais), Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse), David Marty (Perpignan), Cedric Heymans (Toulouse), Christophe Dominici (Stade Francais), Vincent Clerc, Clement Poitrenaud (both Toulouse).