Wales forward Taulupe Faletau has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup after breaking his collar bone in training, the Welsh Rugby Union said on Thursday.
“The injury was sustained in an innocuous training ground incident and will require surgery,” the WRU said in a statement.
Faletau — who missed both the November Tests in 2018 and the Six Nations earlier this year after twice breaking his arm — is an integral part of the Wales set up, and has 70 caps since making his international debut in 2011.
The No. 8 represented Wales at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 2011, and again in 2015 in England.
The 29-year-old forward also played in all three tests for the British & Irish Lions in their drawn series in New Zealand in 2017, along with another Lions cap in Australia in 2013.
Wales will play home and away tests against both England and Ireland in August, as part of the Quilter Internationals ahead of the start of their Rugby World Cup campaign in Japan against Georgia on Sept. 23.
Information from Reuters was contributed to this report.