Dai Flanagan has revealed fly half JJ Hanrahan will miss the rest of the season as he undergoes hip surgery – while Wales ace Will Rowlands will also not feature soon as he continues his comeback.
Hanrahan has featured in 15 games for the Men of Gwent this season and racked up 90 points in his debut season.
But the experienced 30-year-old will now go under the knife this week to ensure he is ready for the start of pre-season.
Wing Ashton Hewitt (tricep) and back row Ollie Griffiths (pectoral) also face spells out after picking up injuries in the derby defeat to Ospreys.
“JJ has been carrying a hip injury for a long time and he has gone in for surgery this week that will keep him out the rest of the season.
“But we are looking forward and JJ will be back for pre-season for us, and he is an experienced player who comes from environments where they have wins.
“He is having surgery this week and he will be back for pre-season.
“Ashton has a niggle that will likely keep him out for a few weeks, and we saw Ollie pick up an injury. It is a small reinjury to the previous one.
“We were very cautious with Ollie but unfortunately, he had the same mechanism as he did in Pau, and he tweaked a previous injury.
“It has been a difficult year for Ollie. He is a Gwent man, he is from the region and lives and breathes it, but I want to be clear that we need people from here to represent it.
“He is in a good space because he knows he has a future here and that helps.”
Flanagan has also confirmed that Wales second row Will Rowlands has been ruled out of the upcoming European fixture with Glasgow.
"Will had some strength testing last week and it was weaker than we thought it would be and that is a setback for Will and for us," said Flanagan.
“He has been training, he is on the field, but it is a clear marker that he is not ready to play at the moment.
“We knew the strength testing was coming last week and we were hoping for a better outcome, but unfortunately that didn’t come. We won’t be seeing Will for a little while."
JJ will be back for pre-season for us, and he is an experienced player who comes from environments where they have wins...
