Faletau ‘will be fit’ for start of Six Nations
BATH are poised to give Wales a mighty Six Nations boost by declaring Taulupe Faletau fit for next month’s starter in Rome,
A fortnight after raising alarms over their most valuable player missing the opening matches against Italy and England, the Premiership club now believe their No.8 is on track to make a faster recovery than projected.
Faletau’s fitness has been a subject of debate in Wales since he suffered a recurrence of a knee ligament injury against Wasps on Christmas Eve. Despite Bath warning then of a sixweek lay-off, sources have told The Rugby Paper they expect him to be playing again within the next fortnight.
The same knee forced Faletau to miss more international matches in one month this season than in the previous four years during his time at the Dragons. The original damage, during the open-
ing minutes of the first weekend of the season in September, took almost three months to repair.
That forced Wales to wait until the last 40 minutes of the autumn series before being reunited with their most automatic of selections, for the second half against South Africa.
Bath have confirmed that specialist examination of Faletau’s current injury has eliminated any danger of an operation. If his revised schedule goes according to plan, the 26year-old Lion will be back in action for one or both of his club’s remaining European Challenge Cup ties against Bristol and Pau.
In that event, and barring further accidents, Wales will go into the Six Nations with only two major casualties – Dan Lydiate, out for the season following knee surgery, and Gethin Jenkins, out until the end of next month with a ruptured bicep. As revealed in The
Rugby Paper last week, Wales will provide the Lions’ share of the management team for the ten-match tour of New Zealand starting in June.
Neil Jenkins’ appointment as a third coach alongside Warren Gatland and Rob Howley is due to be confirmed by the Lions this month. They will all miss Wales’ three-Test sweep of the South Sea Islands in June.