Dragons prop Leon Brown will miss Wales' autumn campaign after undergoing surgery for a shoulder injury.
The 25-year-old had been forced to pull out of the summer tour of South Africa due to a nerve issue in his shoulder. The injury initially didn't require an operation, but having returned to training ahead of the new season, the 22-cap tight-head has now gone under the knife.
His head coach at Rodney Parade, Dai Flanagan, confirmed that Brown would likely miss the autumn campaign ahead of the Dragons' second URC match against Munster.
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"We've got one long-term injury," said Flanagan. "Leon Brown has had surgery yesterday.
"The surgery has gone really well but he'll be out for a period of time. It's on the injury that has kept him out.
"We've done everything medically correct to make sure we give him the fairest chance. He's a young prop and the last thing you want on a young prop is surgery.
"We've given him the best possibly opportunity. He's been a machine in training and everything else. The surgery has gone well and we hope to get him back as soon as possible.
"He'll miss the autumn if I'm honest and we'll get him back after that. Hopefully not (out for the rest of the year)."
Flanagan also elaborated on why it was decided that surgery was now needed, with Brown having struggled to get back to full strength after returning to training.
"It was a nerve issue in there somewhere," he added. "I'm not qualified to talk about the exact details of the operation, but it was hindering him with his strength.
"He'd got back to a certain level, but there were certain movements and certain parts of the game that he can't be fully secure on. This should help that.
"With any operation, you need to be mentally strong enough to fight through what is coming with the rehab. The more diligent Leon is, the quicker he will return and we'll all be there to support him back."
Wales will face New Zealand, Argentina, Georgia and Australia this autumn, with Brown's absence potentially opening the door for summer call-ups Sam Wainwright and Harri O'Connor to make another Welsh squad. As for the Dragons, they'll now lean on Chris Coleman, Lloyd Fairbrother and Luke Yendle for tight-head cover.
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