PARIS (AP) — Stalwart France rugby player Uini Atonio was in intensive care Wednesday after being admitted to hospital following a serious heart issue, his club said.
The 35-year-old prop was hospitalized “following a suspected cardiac problem,” Top 14 team La Rochelle said, adding that medical examinations confirmed the issue.
“His condition is stable today and he remains under close monitoring in intensive care,” the club said, adding that Atonio won't be able to resume his professional career.
“At the end of his hospitalization, Uini will need to undergo a long period of convalescence. It has now been established that he will not be able to continue his playing career.”
A fans' favorite instantly recognizable for his massive beard, Atonio had rare physical qualities and played 68 matches for France.
He had been selected among the players to prepare for the opening match of the Six Nations against Ireland on Feb. 5 before being pulled out because of injury.
Born in New Zealand to Samoan parents, Atonio spent most of his career at La Rochelle, joining the team in 2011 after then-coach Patrice Collazo spotted him at a tournament in Hong Kong.
After qualifying for France on residency grounds, he earned his first cap with the national team in 2014, going on as a substitute during a 40-15 win against Fiji.
Atonio started all five matches in the 2022 Six Nations Championship and won the Grand Slam with France. In 2025, he won another Six Nations title after victory against Scotland. He has played more than 300 matches with La Rochelle.
Tributes poured in after the announcement of his retirement. The French rugby league said in a statement that Atonio was “a truly unique player, as feared on the field as he was unifying off it.”
“In the French jersey, as well as in the colours of Stade Rochelais, Uini Atonio was — and remains — a pillar in the broadest sense of the word. Through his stature, humility and influence, there is no doubt that he will continue to be an essential figure in our rugby.”
Irish Rugby also sent its best wishes to Atonio.
“A great competitor who always had a handshake and a smile after the game,” the federation said.
FILE -France's rugby player Uini Atonio attends a training session at the National Rugby Center in Marcoussis, south of Paris, Feb. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)
A third round of “No Kings” protests is coming this spring, with organizers saying they are planning their largest demonstrations yet across the United States to oppose what they describe as authoritarianism under President Donald Trump.
Previous rallies have drawn millions of people, and organizers said they expect even greater numbers on March 28 in the wake of Trump's immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, where violent clashes have led to the death of two people.
“We expect this to be the largest protest in American history,” Ezra Levin, co-executive director of the nonprofit Indivisible, told The Associated Press ahead of Wednesday's announcement. He predicted that as many as 9 million people will turn out.
“No Kings” protests, which are organized by a constellation of groups around the country, have been a focal point for outrage over Trump's attempts to consolidate and expand his power.
“This is in large part a response to a combination of the heinous attacks on our democracy and communities coming from the regime, and a sense that nobody’s coming to save us," Levin said.
Last year, Trump said he felt attendees were “not representative of the people of our country,” and he insisted that “I’m not a king.”
The latest round of protests had been in the works before the crackdown in Minneapolis. However, the killing of two people by federal agents in recent weeks has refocused plans.
Levin said they want to show “support for Minnesota and immigrant communities all over” and oppose “the secret police force that is murdering Americans and infringing on their basic constitutional rights.”
“And what we know is, the only way to defend those rights is to exercise them, and you do that in nonviolent but forceful ways, and that’s what I expect to see in ‘No Kings’ three," Levin said.
Trump has broadly defended his aggressive deportation campaign and blamed local officials for refusing to cooperate. However, he's more recently signaled a shift in response to bipartisan concern over the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday.
In June, the first “No Kings” rallies were organized in nearly 2,000 locations nationwide, including cities, towns and community spaces. Those protests followed unrest over federal immigration raids and Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, where tensions escalated with protesters blocking a freeway and setting vehicles on fire.
They were organized also in large part to protest a military parade in the nation's capital that marked the Army’s 250th anniversary and coincided with Trump’s birthday. “No Kings” organizers at the time called the parade a “coronation” that was symbolic of what they characterized as Trump’s growing authoritarian overreach.
In response, some conservative politicians condemned the protests as “Hate America” rallies.
During a second round of protests in October, organizers said demonstrations were held in about 2,700 cities and towns across the country. At the time, Levin pointed to Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown, his unprecedented promises to use federal power to influence midterm elections, restrictions on press freedom and retribution against political opponents, steps he said cumulatively represented a direct threat to constitutionally protected rights.
On social media, both Trump and the official White House account mocked the protests, posting computer-generated images of the president wearing a crown.
The big protest days are headline-grabbing moments, but Levin said groups like his are determined to keep up steady trainings and intermediate-level organizing in hopes of growing sustainable resistance to the Trump administration's actions.
“This isn’t about Democrats versus Republicans. This is about do we have a democracy at all, and what are we going to tell our kids and our grandkids about what we did in this moment?" Levin said. "I think that demands the kind of persistent engagement. ”
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
FILE - People protest as part of the "No Kings Day" protest on Presidents Day in Washington, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, near the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
FILE - People take part in the "No Kings Day" protest on Presidents Day in Washington, Feb. 17, 2025, near the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
