Taulupe Faletau injury setback as Cardiff number eight needs finger surgery

Taulupe Faletau's long-awaited return to rugby has lasted a single match: the Cardiff and Wales number eight needs surgery on a finger he damaged on his comeback.

The 35-year-old played his first game since March when Cardiff lost to Northampton in the Champions Cup on Sunday 18 October. BBC Sport reported that he felt pain in the finger in the days after that match, and he is now set for an operation.

"Unfortunately he had a little bit of a niggle with a pinkie finger, so he will be on the sidelines for a while," Corniel van Zyl said.

Out of the Welsh derby

The operation means Faletau will miss Cardiff's URC derby away to the Ospreys in Swansea on Saturday 31 October, the match that closes the first block of the season. The hope is that he will be available again once the November break for the Nations Championship is over.

"He will miss the Ospreys game but hopefully after November he will be fine," Van Zyl said.

Cardiff's back row will be thin for that trip. Their Wales back-rowers Alex Mann, James Botham and Taine Basham will also be unavailable against the Ospreys.

The derby comes at a difficult moment for the club. The Sharks won 36-21 at the Arms Park on Friday 23 October, handing Cardiff a third straight defeat and their first loss at home this season.

A familiar story

This latest Taulupe Faletau injury adds to a run of setbacks since he moved to Cardiff from Bath in 2022. He has managed only 31 games for the club in that time, and shoulder, calf and knee problems restricted him to seven appearances last season. He nevertheless signed a one-year contract extension with Cardiff last summer.

That lack of rugby already cost him a place in the Wales squad for the Nations Championship, with his Cardiff team-mate Basham recalled. Faletau has won 109 caps and played at three World Cups, and Wales head coach Steve Tandy has not closed the door on a Test return, though he has said the back-rower must prove he can stay fit.