Tough Break for Wales’ Taulupe Faletau in Cardiff Comeback
BBC Sport | 24 March 2023
Wales and Cardiff star Taulupe Faletau suffered yet another injury setback in his long-awaited return to the pitch, as he was forced off the field just 30 minutes into Cardiff’s United Rugby Championship clash with Ulster.
The 33-year-old number eight, who has 104 international caps for Wales, had only just recovered from a calf injury that sidelined him for the Six Nations tournament. Faletau unfortunately injured the same arm he had broken during Wales’ World Cup victory over Georgia last October.
“He is being assessed after having a knock on his shoulder and we don’t know the extent of the injury yet. It is not the same injury from my understanding. Fingers crossed, it’s not too bad because he’s put a huge amount of effort in over the last six or seven months to come back.”
The home side endured a frustrating afternoon, feeling hard done by several refereeing decisions that went against them. Cardiff were particularly aggrieved by a missed knock-on in the build-up to Ulster’s try, with Sherratt stating:
“There is no doubt about it. I can see the referee is unsighted, but you have a touch judge seven metres away looking straight at it and that is seven points.”
Despite the agonizing 19-17 defeat, Sherratt remained composed, acknowledging that Cardiff deserved more from the game:
“We need to be able to put more pressure on the opposition and score more points. We are putting ourselves in a position where it is always coming down to a referee call or a last minute penalty, as it did tonight.”
The loss marks Cardiff’s 10th defeat in 14 league games this season, but they’ve managed to salvage valuable losing bonus points in nine of those defeats. The team will undoubtedly be seeking to regroup and build on the positives as they look to turn their fortunes around in the coming weeks.
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