15th July 2005
Issued on behalf of Bristol Rugby

Bristol's preseason preparations, already hit by injury to hooker Neil Clark, suffered a further setback this week with prop Jason Hobson undergoing shoulder surgery.

After such a promising start to his Bristol career in 2003-4, the former England U21 prop has suffered cruel luck with injuries and has undergone two knee reconstructions.

The injury is to his left shoulder on this occasion and has also resulted in the joint requring a reconstruction. Hobson will be out of action for 6 months.

Bristol physio Paul Tompkins confirmed the bad news to the club website this afternoon.

"It's actually an old problem. He had a bit of trouble with it last season and we were able to manage him through it."

"But, at the end of the season, he saw the specialist who tried something different which didn't come off so surgery was the only option left to us."

"He's had a shoulder reconstruction and will be in a sling for about 4 weeks. Once he's out of the sling then he'll be able to get on with some serious fitness work."

"He'll probably be out until the middle of January so the lad's obviously devastated especially after missing so much time with his knee problems."

"The one positive is that the operation went really well and that the surgeon is very happy with how it went."