Wales great Faletau suffers fresh injury blow

Wales number eight Taulupe Faletau suffers another injury blow after just one game back with Cardiff. Wales number eight Taulupe Faletau has been sidelined again after injuring a finger on his Cardiff comeback. The 35-year-old made his first appearance since March in the Champions Cup defeat by Northampton on 18 October. He made an accomplished return but reported pain in a finger in the days afterwards and will have surgery. Faletau will miss the United Rugby Championship (URC) derby at Ospreys that finishes the first block of the season. It is hoped he will be fit to return after the November break for the Nations Championship. "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." Wales great Faletau still has drive for fourth World Cup Faletau has played only 31 times for Cardiff since joining from Bath in 2022 and was limited to seven appearances last season because of shoulder, calf and knee injuries. "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