Canada's DTH Van Der Merwe, right, competes with France's Brice Dulin for the ball during the Rugby World Cup Pool D match between France and Canada at stadium:mk, Milton Keynes, England, on Oct. 1, 2015. DTH van der Merwe, recently named Canada's men's 15s player of the year for 2015, has joined fellow Canadian winger Jeff Hassler on the sidelines with a shoulder injury. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Christophe Ena
April 20, 2016 - 10:51 AM
TORONTO - DTH van der Merwe, recently named Canada's men's 15s player of the year for 2015, has joined fellow Canadian winger Jeff Hassler on the sidelines with a shoulder injury.
The two backs, who play for different Welsh sides in the Guinness Pro 12, are expected to miss Canada's June rugby internationals.
A Scarlets spokesman said the 29-year-old van der Merwe, who was born in South Africa but now calls Regina home, is slated to undergo an AC (acromioclavicular joint) reconstruction to his left shoulder on Thursday.
The club said the Canadian international will miss the remainder of the Guinness Pro 12 season, which wraps up the end of May, but should be ready for the start of the 2016-17 campaign in the fall.
"It's been a great year of rugby personally, just unfortunate to end like this. Time for some R&R," van der Merwe tweeted.
The winger was hurt in the 13th minute of Saturday's to the Glasgow Warriors, his former team. He had scored eight tries in 19 appearances for the Scarlets since joining the team after last fall's World Cup. Seven of those tries were in league play, tying him for fourth in the Guinness Pro 12.
Hassler went under the knife last week for his shoulder injury. An Ospreys spokesman said the 24-year-old from Calgary has been dealing with the injury since returning from the World Cup.
Canada is slated to play Japan, Russia and Italy in June in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto, respectively.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2016