France and Toulon winger Gaël Dréan is set to undergo heart surgery to address a genetic condition, the club confirmed today.
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Dréan earned his France debut during this year’s Six Nations, appearing against Italy in Lille as Les Bleus secured a 33-8 victory. He marked the occasion with a try and completed the full 80 minutes.
Toulon head coach Pierre Mignoni outlined the situation involving his 25-year-old player, who enjoyed an outstanding campaign with 19 tries in 23 appearances: “He needs to undergo heart surgery.
“This doesn’t affect his future or the rest of his career. Nothing is in doubt. He’ll have a short recovery period. He’ll be back in November.
“He’ll come back stronger. It’s something to take seriously, but it’s so he’ll be better when he returns and in his future life. He has a genetic anomaly. We have to monitor him.
“Today, it’s better to have this operation so he’ll be better later on, both as a player and as a person.”
The former Rennes player has been under observation for the condition since birth, while Toulon also identified the issue during his medical assessment in 2022. ” It’s not a routine procedure, even if that’s a bit of an exaggeration. It’s a little scary, but he’ll be back fairly soon.”
Discussing the situation, fly-half Mateo Garcia said, “It’s a delicate situation to manage, especially for him. Before this, he was quite discreet about it.
“We’re giving him our support. It’s never easy news, but the doctor was optimistic about the surgery. We’ll support him as best we can so he can return to us.”
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