Dimitri Yachvili, one of the reigning Amlin Challenge Cup champions' key players, will miss Biarritz's Heineken Cup kick-off following back surgery.
Yachvili had a successful operation for a herniated disc last month, and on the official Biarritz website, he explained: "My back had been painful for several weeks. One month ago I received some injections, but it was still painful. So I followed the advice of my specialist physician, who said that surgery was necessary."
As he won't be available before the end of November, the 31-year-old France scrum-half, who has scored a total of 680 points in both ERC tournaments, will now definitely miss the first two rounds of the Heineken Cup.
Biarritz are in Pool 3 of the Heineken Cup with Harlequins, Connacht Rugby and the new Italian club, Zebre. They open their campaign with an away game against English champions, Harlequins, on Saturday, 13 October.
