Steve Tandy already dealt Wales blow with two ruled out of autumn

With the United Rugby Championship season yet to begin, Cardiff have already announced that two of their Wales internationals, Mason Grady and James Botham, will miss the Autumn Nations Series.

After 10 months out with a knee injury, Grady made his return to action earlier this month in a preseason fixture against Richmond. However, the 23-year-old suffered an AC joint injury in his return to action, which has since been operated on. He is now expected to return after the autumn Test window.

Flanker Botham is in a similar position to Grady, and will also make a return after the Autumn Nations Series after undergoing a knee operation during the summer.

Elsewhere in the Cardiff squad, Elijah Evans will miss the opening months of the season after fracturing his thumb against Richmond, while Matty Young will only miss the opening weeks of the season with an ankle injury. Theo Cabango and Iwan Stephens are both rehabbing long-term injuries.

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Wales begin a new era under Steve Tandy this autumn, where they will take on Argentina, Japan, the All Blacks and South Africa.

This is a blow for the new boss before the season has even started, with a testing schedule awaiting the national team in November. Despite this setback, Tandy made a positive step forward last week with the appointment of Danny Wilson as assistant coach.

“I’m delighted to welcome Danny to the team on a permanent basis,” Tandy said. “I’ve worked with him before when we were both with Scotland, and also during his time at Glasgow Warriors, and he is an outstanding coach.

“This is a really exciting time and I’m grateful to Danny for accepting the challenge to share in this experience. We can’t wait to get started together preparing for the autumn.”

Cardiff, meanwhile, get their URC campaign underway at home against the Lions on September 27.