Wales and Ospreys suffer lengthy Hardy injury blow

Wales and Ospreys have suffered a significant blow with scrum-half Kieran Hardy facing knee surgery and months on the sidelines. Hardy, 30, started the 38-31 win at Dragons on Friday night, but had to be helped from the field during the first half in evident pain.

He was sent for scans after the game and on Tuesday, Ospreys transition coach Richard Kelly confirmed Hardy needs a spell on the sidelines. "He's had a serious injury and is going to need surgery," said Kelly. "We won't know the exact timeline [of recovery], but we are probably talking months over weeks."

Kelly added: "We're gutted for Kieran obviously. He's been playing some excellent rugby for us - last season and then continuing into this one. He's got clarity at least about the surgery, but obviously he's disappointed. Hopefully he'll have a good rehab process and we get him back on the pitch."

Hardy was a standout player during the 2025-26 United Rugby Championship campaign and the 32-cap international had been expected to retain his place in Steve Tandy's Wales squad for the November Tests. While Tomos Williams was first choice at scrum-half in the 2026 Six Nations, Hardy was cemented as his number two, featuring in all five matchday squads. His lay-off is likely to rule him out of the autumn internationals and raises doubts over his availability for next year's Six Nations. That may open the door for Ospreys team-mate Reuben Morgan-Williams, and could also increase calls for Gareth Davies to reverse his international retirement.

威尔士和奥斯普雷斯队遭受重大打击，半场前卫Kieran Hardy需要接受膝部手术，并将缺阵数月。Hardy今年30岁，周五晚在对阵Dragons的比赛中先发出场，帮助球队以38-31取胜，但在上半场因明显疼痛被人搀扶离场。

比赛结束后他接受了检查。周二，奥斯普雷斯队过渡期教练Richard Kelly证实，Hardy需要一段时间休养。"他受了严重的伤，需要接受手术，"Kelly说。"我们目前还无法确定确切的康复时间[，]但恐怕以月计而非以周计。"

Kelly补充道："我们为Kieran感到非常难过。他在上赛季以及本赛季都为我们打出了出色的橄榄球。至少他现在对手术有了明确的安排，但他显然很失望。希望他能顺利完成康复过程，我们能让他早日重返赛场。"

Hardy在2025-26联合橄榄球锦标赛赛季表现出色，这位拥有32次国家队出场经验的球员原本有望在11月的国际比赛中保住Steve Tandy执教的威尔士队主力位置。2026年六国赛中，Tomos Williams是首选半场前卫，而Hardy稳居其后备位置，五场比赛均入选大名单。此次伤病很可能使他缺席秋季国际赛，也让他能否出战明年的六国赛存在疑问。这可能为奥斯普雷斯队友Reuben Morgan-Williams打开机会，也可能让外界更多呼吁Gareth Davies收回其国际退役的决定。