Taulupe Faletau has thanked the Welsh public from his hospital bed for its support after cruelly being denied a chance of starring at the World Cup.
The Lions No.8 star injured his right collarbone in what has been described as "an innocuous training ground incident" and has had an operation to stabilise it.
He suffered the damage after returning home from Wales’ training camp in Fiesch, Switzerland.
It’s the latest injury set-back for the 72-cap Faletau, who has been sidelined for much of the time since starring for the best of British and Irish rugby during their drawn Test series with world champions New Zealand in 2017.
Knee and arm injuries have limited him to just six appearances for Wales during the intervening period.
He has only played one game for Bath since last October due to a double arm fracture and didn’t play for Wales at all during the 2018-19 campaign.
Faletau tweeted a picture from hospital holding hands with one of his children.
In it, the 28-year-old said: "Thank you for all of your messages of support.
"Disappointed with how things have turned out, and to miss out on the chance to represent Wales at RWC 2019 - but it wasn’t meant to be.
"Wishing the rest of the squad every success going forward."
Faletau's absence means Ross Moriarty will be firm favourite to wear the No 8 jersey for Wales at the World Cup in Japan, as he did with glowing success during the Grand Slam.
