Wales No 8 Taulupe Faletau out of Six Nations after tearing knee ligament

Taulupe Faletau, the Wales No 8, has been ruled out of the Six Nations after suffering a grade-three medial-ligament tear in his left knee during Bath's 24-20 Champions Cup defeat against Toulon.

He will see a specialist on Friday to determine if he needs surgery. 

Todd Blackadder, Bath director of rugby, suggested surgery was likely as the 27-year-old had injured the same knee twice last season. 

Sam Warburton, the former Wales captain, and Jonathan Davies, the star of the Lions series, had already been ruled out.

Faletau was competing at a ruck in the 58th minute when Mathieu Bastareaud, the Toulon centre, came in from the side to clear him out. “It is a grade-three medial, which is the most serious one he can have,” a disappointed Blackadder said. “It will be anything from three to four months so it is at the worse end. When you look at key guys, you want them all to be available, but very rarely are they all available at the same time. I was pretty excited about having Toby back. I thought he put in a great performance at the weekend apart from the cleanout from the side.”

Faletau injured his left knee on his Premiership debut for Bath last season that kept him out for two months and then missed the start of the Six Nations after aggravating the same problem.

Blackadder also revealed Sam Underhill was still not ready to return after a concussion during England’s 30-6 victory against Australia on Nov 18. The flanker, who was also concussed on his league debut against Northampton, is yet to pass all the return-to-play protocols.