Lake, 26, the inspirational Wales and Ospreys stand-in captain, had announced in December, amid uncertainty about the region’s future, his planned departure to join Gloucester next season, alongside team-mate Jac Morgan at the end of the campaign.
It now looks like the pathway product’s journey with the club has come to an end, and Ospreys will not see Lake for the United Rugby Championship (URC) run-in or the remainder of the European Challenge Cup campaign, which continues against Ulster in Belfast this weekend.
“Dewi is going to have an operation on his shoulder,” said Ospreys head coach Mark Jones in his pre-match conference ahead of the clash.
“He has had a grumbling shoulder for a while, which has niggled him on and off, and he has tried his best to play through it at certain points.
“Sport is cruel sometimes and does not always give you the dream ending that you want.
“You just have to deal with the cards that you are dealt. Dewi can look back at his time with Ospreys very fondly.
“He could possibly have got to the end of this season, but the feeling from himself was he would like to get it sorted.
“To be fair to him, it is his body and he has the right to make sure he is in tip-top shape.
“So we are unfortunately going to lose him and it will probably be for the remainder of the season.”
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
