Warren Gatland received a boost on Tuesday with Leigh Halfpenny available for their Six Nations Grand Slam eliminator against England next Saturday, but the Wales head coach immediately saw the good news diminished as it emerged that Taulupe Faletau has undergone a second operation on his broken arm.
Faletau has already missed Wales’ wins over France and Italy, and despite Bath initially suggesting that he could return to fitness for the back-end of the Six Nations, the No 8’s rehabilitation has not gone as smoothly as hoped and he has been forced to have additional surgery to repair his right forearm.
"We're gutted for Taulupe, but this is the best course of action for him moving forwards as a player," Bath director of rugby Todd Blackadder said.
"We will know more in terms of time frames following the surgery, but we're looking forward to welcoming him back into the squad."
The operation ends any chance of the 28-year-old recovering before the Six Nations ends on 16 March, ruling him out of the remaining games against England, Scotland and Ireland.
But one player who is back in the mix is Halfpenny, having fully recovered from the concussion that he suffered in November during Wales’ victory over Australia. Both the Scarlets coaching set-up and Gatland’s team showed precaution over Halfpenny’s brain injury and stood him down for more than three months, but the full-back has resumed full training and Scarlets boss Wayne Pivac confirmed that the 30-year-old could return to action this weekend.
"It's great to see him running around with a smile on his face," Pivac told reporters on Tuesday.
"He did everything - full contact, full tackling. We had a mini-game scenario with no hiding places, and he was taking high balls, getting clattered and did everything he needed to do.
"He goes back to Wales available, we feed back information, medical team to medical team, and I have passed a little note on to Warren. Warren will make a call on what he does from there."
Gatland will decide whether to make Halfpenny available for the Scarlets this weekend, as the three-time British and Irish Lions tourist could get match minutes under his belt in the Pro14 encounter with Benetton this weekend so that he is not completely undercooked should he be needed to face England.
In the 80-cap international’s absence, Liam Williams has deputised at full-back, but having Halfpenny’s wealth of experience available could be crucial to Gatland in light of how England’s kicking unit exposed the space in the back-field against Ireland and France so far this championship.
