42 - 19

22 - 19

43 - 14

45 - 30

29 - 13

24 - 23

37 - 10

32 - 27

22 - 24

32 - 13

21 - 10

30 - 26

23 - 33

57 - 17

35 - 18

17 - 36

12 - 8

Thursday

15:00

Friday

13:00

Friday

13:30

Friday

13:30

Friday

13:30

Friday

13:30

Friday

13:30

Friday

15:00

Friday

15:10

Nathan Hughes shares hospital picture after undergoing surgery

By Josh Raisey

22 Oct 2020

(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Bristol Bears No8 Nathan Hughes has revealed he has undergone surgery following his premature end to his 2019/20 season. The 29-year-old missed Bristol’s European Challenge Cup victory over Toulon last Friday after sustaining a rib injury in the Gallagher Premiership semi-final loss to his former club Wasps the week before.

That turned out to be the climax of Bristol’s season and he has now shared a photo of himself in a hospital bed, saying that his surgery is complete to solve a long-standing knee issue. His return date will be reviewed on a week-by-week basis.

Hughes, like many of his teammates, will be celebrating the end of the season after it was confirmed on Wednesday that the Bears will not be needed to replace Wasps in the Premiership final on Saturday against Exeter Chiefs.

Dylan Hartley and Simon Zebo review the Champions Cup final

The 20-cap England No8 will now set his sights on next season, where Bristol will hope to improve on their third-place finish in the league and will be embarking on a new campaign in the Heineken Champions Cup.

Season Done ?
Surgery Done ?

Thanks To Everyone For The Support…
What A Year It’s Been! ?

Roll On Next Season ????#SweetCity pic.twitter.com/X07aZjPtlS

— SWEETCITY N.H (@SweetcityN) October 21, 2020

Bristol will not have long to wait for the new season either, which is due to start in less than a month. Hughes enjoyed a standout first season at Ashton Gate, topping the league for defenders beaten, with 77.

Hughes will be pivotal to the progression of Bristol next year as they are a squad tipped to challenge for the title. After making a spree of summer signings, such as Semi Radradra and Kyle Sinckler, the new players will be further bedded into the squad ahead of the new campaign.

"I pinched myself when I came back for the restart and we had people like Semi Radradra in the changing room. It’s crazy."@JoeJoyce94 talks childhood in Southmead, the influence of Pat Lam and making Bristol proud

??@heagneyl https://t.co/QO1pN1KfqH

— RugbyPass+ (@RugbyPassPlus) October 15, 2020

LIVE

Comments

0 Comments

Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Latest Features

LONG READ

Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

Having been spoiled by the giants of the past, New Zealand have been caught up by the rest of the world.

LONG READ

The joy, spirit and obstacles of the rugby pilgrim

What is life like for those who traverse the rugby world as supporters, and is the game as accessible as it should be?

LONG READ

England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit

Twickenham played their part in a classic encounter but England contrived to play the part of gallant losers once again

Comments on RugbyPass

johnz 20 minutes ago

All Blacks talk late-game adjustments after clutch England win

I guess the other option would be to start ALB, he's looked good in the 12 so far when he starts and sets up those outside him. But that would mean putting the vice captain on the bench, which is unlikely. Another option would be to drop Reiko to the bench and play Proctor, though he's gone home so that's not going to happen either.

Both of those players just offer more of the soft distribution skills good centres learn from playing their careers there. Unfortunately that's what's lacking with the current combo.

11 Go to comments

ColinK 20 minutes ago

Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

Whatever let's see if this load of waffle is still valid in 2 years time. ABs will rise we have a lot of new talent coming through. The NPC was the highest standard for years. The game is changing to suit the fast pace we like to play. We get to play the Springboks more, including the franchises, which will make us better! Overall I am optimistic. I will add having watched the England game multiple times we made most of the play. England are an awesome physical team, but you can expect the All Blacks to get better and better at executing the chances. It could easily have been 5 tries to one instead of 3 to 1.

1 Go to comments

johnz 28 minutes ago

All Blacks talk late-game adjustments after clutch England win

Ratima did look rattled, compared to Roigard who looked like a boss when he came on. But that's been Roigard in test rugby so far. Ratima is only really starting because of Roigard's injury, otherwise surely Roigard was the incumbent. So it's not just one outing of the pine, that just points to Roigard being ready to have a start. As good as Ratima has been, Roigard just offers more.

11 Go to comments

GL 1 hour ago

How surprise opportunities led Harry Plummer to debut for All Blacks

Cody Taylor is a more significant loss than BB, not even close!

1 Go to comments

JD 1 hour ago

'I never heard from Gatland... It kills me to this day'

Won't see a player like him nor, hopefully, an arsehole like him either. Odious kant.

22 Go to comments

CO 1 hour ago

Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I agree largely and I rate McKenzie as a wonderful utility at his best but now at twenty nine I wouldn't take him to the next world cup. I've never seen him as a a ten or a starter either at top tier test level. The bench needs a serious rethink with ideally a hybrid halfback/wing or a hybrid halfback/ten or a hybrid ten/centre to release that need for two relatively small guys on the bench.

32 Go to comments

RW 1 hour ago

“He’s given Connacht everything” – Bundee Aki’s future, and an exciting tactical innovation

Starting a go fund me for Bundee to Leinster 😜

3 Go to comments

CO 1 hour ago

How the All Blacks plan to challenge Ireland after gutsy England win

Unbelievable, the penalty count was so lopsided in last week's first half I'm certain the conspiracy theorists have already had a field day.

25 Go to comments

JWH 1 hour ago

How the All Blacks plan to challenge Ireland after gutsy England win

Good idea, but to move a lock to 6 now with no previous experience save Scott Barrett (who is still our best lock) ahead of the 2nd best equal team in the world may cause more harm than good in terms of confidence, in both caoches and players.

Re lineout options, the ABs have the most innovative lineout in the world, with FOUR lineout options (Barrett, Vaai, Sititi, Savea), compared to Irelands maybe 2 (Beirne and Ryan). ABs will absolutely cause issues at the lineout, and definitely at scrum time. Those Irish props eat to much salad compared to our boys 💪

25 Go to comments

JWH 2 hours ago

Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I never said boring was bad, but it doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with the ABs style. The ABs 10 looks like this: a little magic, good offloads, tactical precision kicking, draw and pass, and a cool head to level it off.

A game manager isn't exactly necessary, as the ABs should all know what they are doing, and the 9 should be directing the forwards. However, considering the youth of our best 9s currently, a more vocal, directive, and logical player like Harry Plummer would make more sense than someone like DMac, who is in his own right a good 10, but tends to sit in wider channels where he can threaten the line more directly, so has less influence on the postioning of the narrower forwards.

32 Go to comments

Kia koe 2 hours ago

How the All Blacks plan to challenge Ireland after gutsy England win

Yep yep I agree

25 Go to comments

Icefarrow 2 hours ago

The ‘unsung hero’ who helped All Blacks’ bench make a telling difference

B-but all the armchair critics tell me he's useless and does little for the team but get penalised... This simply cannot be!

2 Go to comments

Thomas K 2 hours ago

England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

So you think you’d definitely have scored way more tries if it wasn’t for all the off the ball shots? 🤣🤣