Tameifuna ends season early after shoulder surgery as Bordeaux face crunch Top 14 finale

Ben Tameifuna will play no further part in Bordeaux-Bègles’ season after undergoing shoulder surgery this week, leaving the Champions Cup winners short of a key forward for their must-win Top 14 finale against ASM Clermont-Auvergne on Saturday 6 June.

The 34-year-old Tonga international revealed on Instagram that he had torn two tendons in his shoulder several months ago but chose to continue playing in order to help Bordeaux defend their European title. He came off the bench in the Champions Cup final victory over Leinster in Bilbao and scored a try as a substitute in a subsequent 27-22 Top 14 defeat to Toulon before the injury finally ended his campaign.

“T3 checking out for the 2025/26 season,” Tameifuna wrote. “Tore two tendons in my shoulder a couple of months ago, but I wanted to push through and do my part to help the team get that second star. Thank you for all of the kind messages, see you next season.”

The surgery also rules the former Chiefs prop out of Tonga’s Nations Cup fixtures against Zimbabwe, Spain and Portugal in July, having been a notable absentee from the national squad announced earlier this week.

Tameifuna joins France fly-half Matthieu Jalibert — sidelined with a calf injury — on the Bordeaux injury list at the worst possible moment. The club currently sit sixth in the Top 14 standings with 69 points, a single point ahead of La Rochelle and two ahead of Clermont. A victory on Saturday would secure their play-off place; a defeat would likely see them drop out of the top six entirely.

With the stakes so high and two influential players unavailable, head coach Yannick Bru will need to find solutions up front and at fly-half as Bordeaux look to convert their European success into a domestic semi-final berth.