Injured Giteau to 'help' Toulon from sidelines

He will do this, even though he is due to spend months on the sidelines with a broken ankle.

The 33-year-old – fractured his ankle in the first half of Australia's catastrophic 8-42 defeat to world champions New Zealand last Saturday – told rugby.com.au he owed it to Toulon to get back as quickly as possible especially as he had gained special permission from them to play in the Rugby Championship.

"The club is extremely supportive and they've been good from the outset, so all I can do is stay positive and start the rehab and the process at home, and add to the team off the field as best I can," said Giteau.

"Once it happened I knew straight away the best thing would be to get back to my home and family and into the Toulon program and start my rehab and get my surgery done and get back on the park."

The veteran centre – who was outstanding for Australia in last year's World Cup where they reached the final – implied he may have donned the green and gold jersey for the final time.

"As far as long-term I haven't thought about it too much but off the top of my head, I think Australian rugby is in a great spot and there's plenty of young talent coming through," he said.

"The last two Tests I played haven't gone the way I wanted but I wouldn't trade that for anything.

"Maybe it's a sign that I need to go back and repay the faith of Toulon, but I'd be happy to come back and help Australian rugby in the future, even by giving advice, but playing might not be the best way to do that."

Toulon opened their Top 14 campaign last weekend with a surprise 28-23 defeat to Bayonne.

Agence France-Presse