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Faletau ruled out for season after injury 30 minutes into comeback
By Josh Raisey
Cardiff and Wales No8 Taulupe Faletau has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after fracturing his shoulder in his comeback against Ulster on Friday in the United Rugby Championship.
The 104-cap Wales international, 33, was just 30 minutes into his first match of 2024 when he left the field cradling his arm, as Cardiff went on to lose 19-17 in Belfast.
Faletau had been on the sidelines since the World Cup last year when he broke his arm against Georgia. His return was delayed by a calf injury, which meant he did not participate in Wales' Six Nations campaign.
This latest injury will rule the No8 out of Wales' July fixtures, where Warren Gatland's side will take on Australia in a two-Test series.
Cardiff posted on X: "Confirmation from Matt Sherratt that Taulupe Faletau has fractured his shoulder and will miss the rest of the season. Best wishes and a speedy recovery Toby."
Cardiff have four matches remaining this season in the URC, beginning with their last match of the season at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday against Edinburgh (their final home match against the Ospreys will be played at the Cardiff City Stadium). That match will also serve as a farewell to club greats Josh Turnbull and Ellis Jenkins, who will retire at the end of the season.
Ahead of Faletau's comeback against Ulster, Cardiff coach Sherratt showered the Wales international in praise, describing him as a "Rolls Royce". He said: “It is brilliant to have him back, for Taulupe and for the rest of the group.
“He’s a Rolls-Royce, isn’t he?
“He is out there running around and he gets the best out of everyone else.
“You can see it when he’s back around, with the likes of Mackenzie Martin, Alex Mann. Who doesn’t want to play with Taulupe Faletau? He’s a brilliant player.
“He doesn’t say a huge amount, he is pretty quiet, but he loves playing rugby. If you speak to him about the next game or playing for Wales, his eyes light up like he’s a first capper.”
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Latest Comments
I'm honestly not so sure. I initially thought just reckless mainly because no player should be capable of doing that intentionally.
There's a strong argument that he's working both the eyes. It's his left hand he uses which is furthest from the ball he's contesting. His fingers are also clenched which I don't think is a natural way to try and rip a ball.
Go to comments"I see those teams, SA in particular, as only improving their performances in EPCR."
well, its gone the opposite direction so far!
"I don't like your model that requires them to reach Semi Final level in the Challenge trophy, given the bottleneck that will be URC with 16 teams playing for only 4 places."
my model would have given SA 3 spots in a 16 team CC this year, which is the same number as they have in the 24 team version that is actually taking place. But yes, if they keep getting worse it would get harder for them to get places. It would also get harder for you to argue that they deserve places though!
"I suggest by giving say Englands two semi finalist first seeds of the english teams, then the next best 4 on the league table as much better (it catches improving teams faster)."
interesting argument, but it doesn't always go that way. Gloucester are improving, but they improved in cup competitions before league fixtures started going their way. The same is true of Sharks, and the same was true of la Rochelle. I think maybe this is just an argument for allowing more teams to qualify via the challenge cup!
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