A French teenager is in a serious condition in intensive care after suffering a heart attack while playing rugby at the weekend.

Nicolas Chauvin, 19, suffered the cardiac arrest while playing for the Stade Francais youth academy at Bordeaux-Begles, the Parisian club said on Monday.

The teenager has also had surgery on a broken neck following Sunday’s match.

Back-rower Chauvin was tackled in the fifth minute and his pulse was re-established by members of the emergency services on the field before he was taken to a local hospital.

This incident comes four months after the death of another young French rugby player, Louis Fajfrowski, who suffered a heart attack in the changing room after receiving a heavy tackle playing for Aurillac in a pre-season game.

A statement from the club read:

Following yesterday’s accident at the Espoirs match between Paris and Bordeaux-Bègles, the young Stade Nicolas Chauvin’s third-row rider was operated on urgently for a fracture of the second cervical spine at CHU Pellegrin in Bordeaux. Nicolas is currently in intensive care, in a serious condition.

All members of the club have a strong thought for Nicolas and his family and give them all their support. The management teams of the association with Pascal Papé take turns on site with the family to bring him all the comfort possible.

nk/dhe/iwd/bsp (Additional editing by Sean McMahon)

© Agence France-Presse

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