Ospreys claim they hope Wales will back George North and return to action next month.
North has been out with a knee injury since April 2021 and was not named in the 2022 Six Nations squad.
Ospreys flanker Dan Lydiate will be back in action against Edinburgh on the 29th of January.
Toby Booth, Ospreys head coach, confirmed Justin Tipuric would miss the Six Nations, and that he will be out for “months instead of weeks”.
Wayne Pivac, Wales coach had shared the latest about Tipuric being ruled out of the tournament defence.
Alun Wyn, North, Lydiate, and Tipuric are not included in Pivac’s 36 man Six Nations squad. Taulupe Faletau Josh Navidi, Josh Navidi, Ken Owens and Taulupe Owens are all absentees.
Pivac said North and Lydiate are “probably closest” to being able play in the tournament.
North sustained injuries while playing against Cardiff for Ospreys, and Lydiate sustained serious knee injuries while playing for Wales against Ireland last February in the 2021 Six Nations opener.
Booth stated, “George is making some great progress. We’re hoping to have him back in February.”
“Dan has just completed his week of training. We hope he will be available next week to select, which would be great, to bring someone like him back.”
Wales will begin their Six Nations defense against Ireland on February 5, before hosting Scotland seven day later. A trip to Twickenham is scheduled for February 26.
The campaign concludes with two home games, France visiting Cardiff on March 11, and Italy arriving eighteen days later.
Tipuric left out
Tipuric’s setback in June 2021, when he sustained a shoulder injury playing for the Lions against Japan, was countered by the good news about North and Lydiate.
Booth stated, “We have had some second-opinion scans and I can confirm that he is not going to participate from a Six Nations perspective.”
“The injury is not where we expected it to be. It’s going to take some time to fix it.”
“So he’s likely to miss that and he will be back when he returns.
“I have no doubt that it will be months instead of weeks.”
It’s a sad time for him. We need to support our injured players with the same support that we give our fit players. The mental aspect of the injury and the time out are disappointing.
Booth responded to a question about whether Tipuric would be playing again this season. “We have to go through the next few months before I can make an exact decision.”
“At the moment, it’s just coming into the reality of the next steps.
“The most disappointing thing about it is that he saw that the goalposts were right infront of him.
“We had him go back to training and then he started showing signs of stress. Further investigation revealed that the injury had not been properly treated.
“In the sport that we play, you cannot carry that because it will cause serious damage.”