Leigh Halfpenny: Wales full-back to have surgery on knee injury
- Published
Leigh Halfpenny has become the eighth Welshman to achieve 100 international caps
Wales have confirmed Leigh Halfpenny will require surgery after the full-back was ruled out of the summer series with a knee injury.
Halfpenny suffered the injury as he made his 100th Test appearance in the 68-12 win against Canada.
The 32-year-old went down inside the first minute of his 96th Wales cap, having also played in four British and Irish Lions Tests.
No time scale has been given on a return.
Halfpenny, of Scarlets, will go under the knife with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) saying further assessments will be required to determine his long-term prognosis and management.
Uncapped Dragons centre Aneurin Owen, who has been training with the squad as an attached player, has now been officially added as Halfpenny's replacement.
Wales now face Argentina in a two-Test series on 10 and 17 July in Cardiff.
Halfpenny is 33 in December but has outlined on social media that he intends to return.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Wales attack coach Stephen Jones has backed Halfpenny's intentions.
"The guy is a fantastic professional and a class act," said Jones.
"The standards he sets in the environment, and how he pushes things forward, he is ambitious to improve all the time.
"One thing about Leigh is he is mentally tough. He will do everything in his control to make sure he recovers and comes back as soon as he can.
"He is a superb professional, he will tick every box from that perspective, and it will be nice to have him back with us as soon as he can."
Jones admitted the injury had affected the squad.
"We were devastated," he added.
"It was the first time Leigh got the ball in the game. He carried the ball back, and unfortunately he picked up a knee injury which requires surgery.
"We were all gutted. He is such a wonderful player as well as a fantastic person. It was a tough one for everyone concerned.
"It was a special milestone for a guy who has worked incredibly hard and had an amazing career, and has still got international rugby ahead of him. To have the leave pitch so soon was unfair on him."
Jones also confirmed Cardiff Blues fly-half Jarrod Evans is fit and available for selection this weekend after missing the Canada win because of an ankle injury.