Loose-head prop Fabien Barcella, utility back Damien Traille and scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili are set to miss the bulk of the Championship after all picking up knee injuries in Biarritz's 25-15 Top 14 defeat to Stade Francais on Saturday.

Barcella and Traille, who both started for Les Bleus in their last outing - a 39-12 defeat at the hands of New Zealand at the Stade Velodrome in November, will be out of action for an estimated eight and six weeks respectively while Yachvili is also facing several weeks on the sidelines.

The veteran No.9 last capped on France’s tour of Australia and New Zealand last year was in line to benefit from the absence of Julien Dupuy who was handed a six month ban for eye-gouging last month.