It will be scant comfort for Brian Ashton, who is currently without Charlie Hodgson and faces continuing uncertainty over Jonny Wilkinson, but England's old enemy France have a long-term fly-half crisis which looks as dire as that of the world champions. France's head coach, Bernard Laporte, said yesterday that he is uncertain whether his first choice No10, Frédéric Michalak, will be fit for the World Cup on home soil this autumn.

Michalak had an operation on his right knee in November after rupturing an interior ligament and will miss the entire Six Nations campaign. "We hope he will come back [for the World Cup] but with an injury of this kind and an operation like this we have uncertainty," said Laporte. "We hope he will play again with Toulouse in April and above all that he can regain a decent physical condition."

Laporte added that he expects to play at least three different fly-halves as France bid to retain their Six Nations title. "We hope Fred will come back but you never know so we wanted to give Damien Traille a good run, four matches at least. We know he can manage in that position so we owe it to ourselves to look at other players such as David Skrela and Benjamin Boyet."

Two other key members of the Toulouse contingent in the France squad are out at least for the start of the Six Nations. While the scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde is out with a bruised hip, there is also uncertainty over the fitness of Fabien Pelous, who sprained an ankle in December. Raphaël Ibanez of Wasps should start as captain against Italy in Rome on Saturday week, Laporte said.

"I hope to play later in the tournament but I don't know which match," said Pelous, who will equal Philippe Sella's record of 111 France caps in his next outing. "I don't know how long the ankle will take to recover. I have pain now, it could be OK next week or tomorrow."

Laporte will cross his fingers on Saturday night when Stade Français and Toulouse meet at Stade de France where many of the coach's leading players will be on view. Laporte also confirmed yesterday that this will be his last Six Nations tournament as he will definitely retire from training after the World Cup finishes in October. "I've taken part in the tournament eight times; the Six Nations is a magical competition and I will miss it," he said. "But whatever happens in the World Cup I will stop coaching."