Tony Gigot will take over the full-back role at Toulouse Olympique as the club comes to terms with the impending departure of Mark Kheirallah.
Coach Sylvain Houles has confirmed to League Express that the 31-year-old Australian is expected to leave after ten years at Toulouse because of his stance on Covid vaccination rules in France.
Houles said, “There hasn’t been any movement or change in the situation so as it stands, I don’t think he will be playing for Toulouse again.”
Former Catalans Dragons star Gigot, who recently captained the French national team, has been given the armband at Toulouse following Johnathon Ford’s decision to leave the club, also because of vaccination issues.
Houles recently described Gigot as “the best French player of his generation” and he added: “Tony will go back to fullback, which is his favourite position.
“He loves the freedom of the role and he will be allowed to play the way he does best.”
Toulouse are searching for new recruits to replace Ford and Kheirallah but Houles admits it isn’t easy.
He said, “We are looking for new players but we’re still a long way off any announcements. The market is very tight and it will take some time before we find the right players, and that is the most important thing.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s been a few tough weeks but these things happen in team sports. The most important thing is how you deal with it and come out on the other side.
“We can’t spend time crying about things; we have to go out and be even stronger.
“That is the attitude of this club.
“Every time we’ve had the knocks, we made sure we moved forward and grew stronger.”
Those knocks continued last week with the confirmation that French international centre Mathieu Jussaume had broken his leg during the pre-season friendly against Catalans Dragons.
Houles said, “Mathieu has broken his fibula so he is going to be out for up to three months.
“But Junior Vaivai is back with us and ready to go; he returned to Australia for family reasons but he’s here now and he’s been training hard, so he’s fit.
“Gadwin Springer is not far off but he won’t be quite ready for the first couple of games.
“We didn’t play all of our players in Perpignan; Joseph Paulo and James Cunningham weren’t quite ready but they trained this week and we will be in better shape against Huddersfield than we were against Catalans.
Despite recent setbacks, Houles insists the mood at the club is positive.
He said, “We’re ready, we’ve been waiting for 20 years for this moment.
“With the new recruits we have a strong squad. The kind of players we have here are aiming for a top six finish.”
“Following last week’s friendly against Catalans, we took training up to another level and there is a real sense of excitement at the club.
“For a friendly there were a few good shots in that game and you can see that when it comes to the derby games it will get pretty fierce.
“We need to create this healthy rivalry. There are some smart people in Perpignan and Toulouse who know how to work together and promote the growth of French Rugby League.
“But when it comes to derby day we will be looking after our own business and it will be all about winning and getting the two points.
“I was happy with the team performance in Perpignan but we know we will play better.
“The attitude was the important thing for me, we showed we have a team spirit and we will fight for each other.”
That team spirit will be tested on Saturday with Toulouse’s debut Super League game against Huddersfield Giants, which will be televised live from Stade Ernest Wallon by Sky Sports and in France by beIN Sport.
Houles said, “It’s really important for us to start strong; we know it is going to be tough from the very first whistle.
“We can build on what we did last year in the semi-final and final. Within eight days we had nearly 17,000 people in the ground watching our two games.
“It was a great atmosphere and everybody had a smile on their face so it’s important that we keep that momentum going.
“Huddersfield have got a quality squad. Ian Watson did such a good job at Salford and you can see he is having an impact now with his new club.
“He will be coming here to win, make no mistake. That’s the thing with Super League, the games come thick and fast and it’s early days but it’s game-on!”
The above content is also available in the regular weekly edition of League Express, on newsstands every Monday in the UK and as a digital download. Click here for more details.