Ospreys wait on Tipuric amid forward injury crisis
URC Judgement Day: Ospreys v CardiffVenue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Saturday, 19 April Kick off: 15:00 BSTCoverage: Live on BBC One Wales and via iPlayer; listen live on BBC Radio Wales and BBC Sounds, the BBC Sport website and app, plus live text commentary, followed by report and reaction on the BBC Sport website and app.
Ospreys fans face a wait to see whether legendary flanker Justin Tipuric has played his final game for them, with the region suffering a forward injury crisis.Tipuric, 35, is retiring at the end of the season to become the Ospreys defence coach and could be ruled out of the rest of this campaign.Ospreys are waiting to see whether British and Irish Lions duo Tipuric and Adam Beard will feature again during the 2025-26 season.Number eight Morgan Morris and Beard's fellow lock Rhys Davies have been ruled out for the rest of the season as they face surgery.
Head coach Mark Jones is counting the cost of the Challenge Cup quarter-final defeat against Lyon in Swansea.Tipuric, Davies and Beard were forced off injured during that match and Morris played through the pain barrier.Ospreys have four league games remaining in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and are battling for a top-eight play-off place. Jones' side face Cardiff at the Principality Stadium on 19 April before a home derby against Dragons, then two matches to finish in South Africa.
Tipuric concern
Tipuric, who won 93 Wales caps and made a Lions Test appearance before his international retirement in 2023, made his Ospreys debut in November 2009 and has so far played 229 games for his home region.He was due to have a farewell home match at the Swansea.com Stadium against Dragons on Saturday, 26 April.But Tipuric picked up a pectoral injury in the early stages against Lyon to cast doubt on his appearance on home turf in nine days.Tipuric will be honoured in Swansea whether he plays against Dragons or not."We're not sure [if he will play]," said Jones."We've set it up for him and his family and it's all set up for Tips to be around that game. "He doesn't need surgery, which is awesome news. His mindset is that he isn't finished yet. "We're giving him the best opportunity to get out there, which is brilliant."Beard, 29, missed the Six Nations after suffering a knee injury in Wales' autumn series defeat to Australia in November 2024 before returning to action for Ospreys against Connacht in March. The Lions second row is being linked with a move to Montpellier next season.
Davies blow
Ospreys head coach Jones says Morris and Davies will not play again for his side this season but have not yet ruled them out of Wales' tour to Japan in July."Morgan and Rhys are waiting for some surgical intervention and that's going to happen later in the week," said Jones."We're assuming we won't see them for our games. Whether they get back for tours or anything like that, I'm not sure."We'll have to wait and see but we don't see them being around for us."It is another blow for Davies who missed nine months of action in 2024 because of a knee injury before returning on 1 January.The 26-year-old then suffered another setback which forced him out of action for almost three months.Davies was very impressive in the three games he has played since his return at the end of March but has cruelly been sidelined again."He's disappointed because he's had to deal with so much this year, mentally around the injuries and the disappointment of being injured," said Jones."He has put so much effort and commitment into coming back and everybody could see that work he's done has been incredible. "He's come back looking like a million dollars in the way he's played."Morris, 26, suffered the ankle problem in the first half of the Lyon defeat but battled through the pain to finish the game."He's got he's got an issue with his foot in terms of the stability of it," said Jones."The concern is it's not going to fix itself and might need some intervention, so he's going to get that done."We feel that sets him up best for a pretty quick pre-season and he can hit the ground running for next year."The thing is to get him right and give him the best chance of flying into next season."
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