Justin Tipuric: Ospreys captain misses rest of the season after foot surgery

Ospreys captain Justin Tipuric has played 93 internationals for Wales

Ospreys captain Justin Tipuric will miss the rest of the season after having foot surgery.

Tipuric limped off during the first half of the Heineken Champions Cup defeat to Saracens.

The 33-year-old will miss the final two United Rugby Championship (URC) matches against Edinburgh and Cardiff and the end of season league play-offs should Ospreys qualify.

The Wales flanker should be fit for the World Cup training camps in July.

"He's undergone foot surgery that counts him out for the rest of this campaign," said Ospreys head coach Toby Booth.

"Surgery is normally a minimum of eight weeks. I don't know the actual timeframe. I know it's gone well. It's pretty routine stuff so I don't think it'll be an issue for Wales going forward into camp.

"It's a little bit serious for him to leave the pitch when he did. That's the joy of artificial pitches.

"You know when he pulls himself off, then you know it's pretty serious. It's one of those things, but a routine thing we can get past. Just the timing will beat us for this season."

Double blow

Hawkins played in four of Wales' matches during the Six Nations campaign this year

Booth has also been reflecting on the loss of Wales centre Joe Hawkins and New Zealander Ethan Roots to Exeter at the end of the season. The international eligibility of Hawkins following his move to Exeter is under scrutiny.

Hawkins has won five caps which is short of the 25-cap threshold required to play for Wales if you move to a club outside the country.

The 20-year-old could still be deemed available for Wales by eligibility rules if he was uncapped when he signed his Exeter contract with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) investigating the situation.

Hawkins was first named in a national squad in October 2022, winning his first cap the following month against Australia.

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter would not reveal when Hawkins officially signed for the English club but says he does expect the player to be available for Wales for the World Cup and beyond.

Booth says Hawkins' Wales eligibility was not an issue for him.

"That is for somebody else to decide," said Booth.

"I know that we were in conversations with him recently but that's for the WRU to talk about."

When asked whether Hawkins had signed a pre-contract with Exeter: "I don't know the answer to that because I am not his agent. All I can answer is that I know we had long conversations with him throughout his future at the Ospreys."

Booth admitted he was losing two players he hoped to keep.

"I have no issue with players moving on," said Booth.

"It is a short career and everybody knows what the backdrop is. We have been in conversations with these boys from the very start.

"Time moves on and as those windows of opportunity close, people vote with their feet and I understand that.

"I don't take it as a reflection of the Ospreys with the conversations I have had with them and I wish them well.

"It's disappointing because those sort of players are the sort of players when I came here I would look to recruit or develop from within and grow our own.

"Ethan was a development player in New Zealand and to bring him over, identify and develop him and to see how well he has played in our European campaign, it's disappointing to lose him.

"Joe is an international rugby player and he wasn't before he started. We can enjoy the part we played in their development and if you do things right you never know what is around the corner. Often these people come home."

Nervous about Europe

Ospreys lock Rhys Davies, Ospreys head coach Toby Booth, Cardiff director of rugby Dai Young and Cardiff captain Josh Turnbull with the Welsh Shield ahead of Judgement Day at the Principality Stadium on 22 April

Booth's Ospreys are battling with Cardiff to finish as the highest Welsh region in the URC this season which ensures the top side wins the Welsh shield, with Scarlets still having an outside chance of success.

Ospreys are looking to top the Welsh table again which would guarantee Champions Cup rugby next season in a tournament where Booth's side beat English and French champions Leicester and Montpellier this campaign before being knocked out by Saracens.

Booth believes the change in landscape of Welsh rugby with reduced budgets and players leaving will present a difficult challenge for whichever team qualifies.

"It'll be a different scenario," said Booth.

"We're all nervous about what the future is going to look like from a strength in depth and a competition point of view.

"There's a balancing act of be careful what you qualify for. The big challenge we've got to get through is looking at what that future will look like and how you can still maintain competitiveness.

"We're probably better designed for cup rugby than league rugby, in relation to availability and strength of depth.

"We'll embrace whatever happens and give it our best shot."