Boss Dean Ryan has revealed lock Will Rowlands will miss the upcoming United Rugby Championship clash with Zebre – but the Wales international is ‘very keen’ to return for the Welsh derbies.
Rowlands was forced off in the league defeat to Scarlets at Rodney Parade last weekend with a shoulder knock.
Director of Dragons Rugby Ryan has now ruled the second row out of Saturday’s clash in Parma (kick-off 3.05pm UK).
However, he revealed how Rowlands was already targeted back-to-back Welsh derbies with Ospreys and Cardiff Rugby to make his return.
“Will is in significant discomfort with his AC joint,” said Ryan. “Everyone that has seen him this season will know that for him to leave the field it must be significant.
“He picked it up the week before and when you are carrying something suddenly it tends to be pretty quick that it gets hit in a game.
“He won't be available this week, but he is very keen to play in all of the derbies to keep pushing here and keep pushing the Wales selectors.
“We have a few bumps and bruises as we lost some senior players last week, but we will be as late as we can making those decisions.”
One player who will miss out is back row Ross Moriarty with Ryan insisting the Wales ace will only return when right after suffering a knee issue.
“I have seen nerve damage in shoulders before and he has something similar in his leg,” said Ryan. “It's not something where you go ‘in three weeks this will have behaved like this’.
“That’s frustrating for Ross because he’s keen to get back out on the field, but it’s really difficult to give updates with any accuracy.”
Meanwhile, wing Ashton Hewitt could yet return before the end of the season after a year out with a serious knee injury.
“Ashton is desperate to play but we have got to make sure we get things right,” added Ryan.
“It might be right that he plays in the next few weeks, but we need to make sure it's in Ashton's best interests.”
He is very keen to play in all of the derbies to keep pushing here and keep pushing the Wales selectors...
