Wales have suffered a blow after openside flanker James Davies was ruled out of the November internationals after suffering a ruptured PCL.
Davies sustained the injury in the Scarlets‘ 38-29 PRO14 victory over Benetton on September 15 and subsequent scans have confirmed the worst.
He will require surgery and is expected the miss up to four months of action, with head coach Wayne Pivac revealing his 2018 could well be over.
“He has ruptured his PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) so I don’t think you will see him this side of Christmas,” said the disappointed Scarlets boss.
“It’s a massive blow to lose James, especially with another two sevens out, it puts a real strain on the team. He’s a quality player, everyone knows that. He’s a big part of how we play the game.
“He’s become a leader in the group. He was stepping up nicely in that classroom role and as a senior player in the group. He’ll be sorely missed but it’s just one of those things. We can’t do anything about injury.”