Poirot confirms knee injury and reveals this will be his final professional season

Jefferson Poirot will miss the opening weeks of Bordeaux-Bèglès’s season after spraining his knee, with head coach Yannick Bru confirming a six-to-eight-week absence. The France loosehead, 33, also revealed in an interview with RMC that this will be his final campaign in professional rugby.

The injury leaves Poirot in a fitness race to be ready for Bordeaux’s Investec Champions Cup title defence, which begins with a round-one trip to Gloucester on 16 October. Before that fixture, the European champions face six Top 14 matches, starting with a home game against Racing 92 on 5 September.

“My injury was accidental, from a tackle I took from the side, combined with a high tackle,” Poirot told RMC. “That gives me six more weeks to do a big pre-season. This is my last season at the club and even in professional rugby. This season is special for me, that’s why I’m taking it in a positive way — I want to have my best season with the club.”

Poirot’s retirement announcement carries added intrigue given that he came out of international retirement in July to represent Les Bleus for the first time since 2020. It remains unclear whether he will call time on his career before the 2027 Rugby World Cup or attempt to make that tournament his farewell on the international stage.

His contract at Bordeaux is reported to expire at the end of the upcoming season. RugbyPass reported this week that Bath loosehead Beno Obano, whose own contract at the Rec runs out at the same time, has been identified as a potential successor on the Atlantic coast.