Sam Warburton ruled out for the entire season after undergoing knee surgery on top of existing neck injury
British and Irish Lions captain will miss the entirety of 2017/18 and has not played since the Lions drew with the All Blacks in July
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Your support makes all the difference.British and Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton will miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery that will sideline him for six months, ruling him out for the entire 2017/18 season after previously having an operation on his neck.
The Wales flanker, who has not played a competitive match since captaining the Lions to the series-tying third Test draw against the All Blacks in July, has decided in consultation with the Welsh Rugby Union that his current injury lay-off offers the chance to correct an existing knee injury and ensure he returns in the best physical condition possible.
Having suffered extensively from injuries over the last four years, it was understood that Warburton was considering a one-year sabbatical – similar to those taken in the past by former New Zealand captain Richie McCaw and Australia flanker David Pocock – in order to maximise the chances of his body being intact for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
This latest setback meets that idea with Warburton not set to return until September next year – 15 months after his last appearance – but it does mean that the flanker will have to go through yet another gruelling rehabilitation on two parts of his body as opposed to one, which does put his place in Warren Gatland’s squad under pressure for the World Cup in Japan in under two years’ time.
“In close consultation with the WRU and Cardiff Blues we decided it would be proactive to have surgery now on a knee injury and I’m looking forward to returning to action fully fit,” Warburton said on Friday.
Wales suffered something of a back-row crisis in the recent autumn internationals, with Warburton already ruled out of the entire series following the neck operation in September that required a four-month recovery, before both Dan Lydiate and Justin Tipuric – his openside replacement – suffered injuries while on duty with the Ospreys.
Tipuric only played 10 minutes of their four Tests in a replacement appearance against New Zealand, while Lydiate captained the team against Georgia for the full 80 minutes and came on for the final six minutes in the narrow win over South Africa. As a result, Gatland named Warburton’s Cardiff Blues teammate, Josh Navidi, at openside for three of the four Tests, with Sam Cross being drafted into the squad despite only making his professional debut for Ospreys in October.
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