Justin Tipuric to miss rest of 2021-22 season after injury setback

Wales flanker Justin Tipuric will miss the rest of the 2021-22 season after an injury he sustained on Lions duty last summer.

Ospreys coach Toby Booth said the nature of the injury hadn’t been seen in rugby before and was one that resembled more a ‘road traffic accident’.

“It’s time. The nature of the injury has never been seen in rugby before," said Ospreys coach Toby Booth.

"It’s an injury that resembles more a road traffic accident, so we need to make sure that we’re in a 100 percent right position for him to come back and come back safely.

“The injury didn’t happen with us but it was a collision injury and a direct impact injury.

“It’s like a road accident and you hit the road — it’s that sort of level of impact. If you’re in a position on the ground and you can’t move then the force has to go somewhere and it goes through the body rather than through the floor. That’s the nature of the injury.”

Tipuric has been in rehab with fellow internationals George North and Dan Lydiate who both picked up serious knee injuries last season.

"Dan has put a huge amount of work in and shown a lot of mental strength," said Booth.

"When you have someone of the ability of Dan Lydiate, getting him back is really important for the group. It reflects well on the programme that we have got.

"George was due [to return] around the Zebre game, our next game, and nothing's happened to think that's not going to be the case.

"It's a bit of a push-and-a-pull thing. His body's reacting to training and backing up training days, so there's a bit of in and out.

"But he's trained fully today and he's trained fully three times this week, which is great."