Navidi faces long time on the sidelines following op

WALES and Cardiff Rugby backrower Josh Navidi is facing up to five months on the sidelines after dislocating his shoulder against the Bulls last week.

Cardiff’s director of rugby Dai Young said of the Lions forward: “He has had surgery. Everything went well on the op.

“You are probably looking at four and a half to five months. We will know a little bit more when he gets to 8-12 weeks.

“He is a quick healer, but we won’t be rushing him back. He will be back when he’s ready.

“He is downhearted. It is the worst thing in the world to be injured. It’s not a great place to be and he has had nothing but bad luck.

“But he is a really strong guy mentally, as well as physically. He has done it before and I am sure he will come back just as good after this one as well.”

As for Wales squad flanker Ellis Jenkins, who suffered a popped rib cartilage playing for Cardiff against the Sharks last Saturday, Young is optimistic he hasn’t suffered serious damage.

“He is in Welsh camp,” Young added. “We haven’t heard anything negative as in it’s worse than they thought or that it’s a major concern.

“With that kind of injury, you are usually looking at seven to 10 days for it to settle down. I expect him to be sore for this week.

“If it goes into next week, well then he could be struggling a little bit. But he is a tough boy.”

Cardiff will be without their Wales squad members for the derby against Dragons on Saturday and for the two-match trip to South Africa.

As for the switch of venues from Italy to play the Lions and Stormers, Cardiff boss Young had this to say.

“I think it’s the right decision to go out and play in South Africa,” he commented.

“It would have been totally unfair to ask their teams to come to Europe again to play their home games.

“They wouldn’t have been happy with that situation and understandably so. We have welcomed them into the competition and it’s only fair that we treat them fairly.

“Once it had been deemed safe to travel there and it’s off the red list, I expected us to be going there and it’s right and proper we do that. “