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Faletau's comeback plan waiting on midweek scan result

By Liam Heagney
Taulupe Faletau has been out of action since a January 12 right forearm injury for Bath (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Taulupe Faletau has told RugbyPass he is hoping to play some part in Bath’s end-of-season Gallagher Premiership run-in - provided he gets the all-clear from his surgeon following a scan on Wednesday. 

The Wales No8 missed his country’s Grand Slam success after a decision was taken in February that further surgery was required to clear up the right forearm injury sustained playing for his club in the Champions Cup versus Wasps. 

That January match was his comeback appearance following an initial fracture last October in the league versus Exeter, an injury catalogue that has restricted the 28-year old to just six appearances in total this season.  

“I’ve still got a couple of weeks to go yet,” said Faletau on Wednesday at a Gallagher Insurance Train with your Heroes session for Melksham under-11s.

“I had an X-ray today so I’m to hear back from the surgeon this evening or tomorrow and hopefully I crack on and do a bit more… it feels okay so hopefully I’m just waiting for some good news.

“The X-ray today will determine if I can start doing a bit more in terms of rugby specific stuff. Hopefully I can get that feedback from the surgeon today or tomorrow and then start pushing the pace and trying to get back up to the speed of things.

“I wouldn’t say it was difficult. With the other injuries I had I know how to manage my time, so it hasn’t been too bad. I’m towards the end of it now is and this is where all the hard work needs to go in.

“I've just been coming in and doing my conditioning in the morning, checking in with the physios and they just make sure everything is on track. 

“The big stage is the reading of these scans today and hopefully that comes back all good. Then hopefully I can start jumping into team training and taking a bit more part in the rugby stuff. 

“It has been a while (since I played). I haven’t played much rugby this season so if I was able to get back on the pitch before the end of the season, that would be awesome for me.” 

WATCH: Part two of The Academy, the RugbyPass documentary series on Leicester Tigers