Faletau ruled out after finger injury on Cardiff comeback

Taulupe Faletau was sidelined after injuring a pinkie during his Cardiff comeback in the Champions Cup defeat by Northampton on 18 October, and will have surgery. The 35-year-old will miss the United Rugby Championship derby at Ospreys that finishes the first block of the season.

Faletau, who made his Wales debut in 2011, had returned to action for the first time since March in that Northampton loss and was credited with an accomplished reappearance before reporting pain in a finger in the days afterwards. He made his Cardiff debut following a move from Bath and has since struggled for consistent game time.

"Unfortunately he had a little bit of a niggle with a pinkie finger, so he will be on the sidelines for a while," said Cardiff head coach Corniel van Zyl. "He will miss the Ospreys game but hopefully after November he will be fine."

"I can imagine he is quite frustrated because after the game he didn't even realise it, then the next day it was sore all of a sudden," said Van Zyl. "It's a tough one for him to take, but hopefully he can turn it around."

Faletau has appeared only 31 times for Cardiff since joining from Bath in 2022 and was limited to seven outings last season because of shoulder, calf and knee injuries; he signed a one-year contract extension with Cardiff last summer. His lack of recent minutes meant he was not included in Wales' squad for the Nations Championship, with in-form Cardiff team-mate Taine Basham receiving a recall.

Wales head coach Steve Tandy said they would not rule out an international return for Faletau, who has won 109 caps and played at three World Cups, but that he needed to show durability to go along with his undoubted quality. Cardiff will also be without Wales back-row forwards Alex Mann, James Botham and Basham for the trip to Swansea on Saturday, 31 October.

They will hope that number eight Alun Lawrence, who has not featured this season because of a number of niggles, will be fit for the Ospreys game; Dan Thomas, summer signing Semisi Paea and youngster Lucas de la Rua have played in the back row this season, with hooker Evan Lloyd another option. Cardiff suffered a third successive loss when beaten by Sharks at the Arms Park on Friday.

It is hoped he will be fit to return after the November break for the Nations Championship.