While that is great news for Cardiff, who will be chasing their first win of this year when they meet Ulster at the Kingspan Stadium, it is also a huge boost for Wales head coach Warren Gatland, who had to play through the Six Nations Championship without one of his best back row options.
The 33-year-old Faletau first suffered a broken arm in the World Cup victory over Georgia in Nantes on 7 October 2023. He then picked up a calf injury on the comeback trail and missed the whole of the Six Nations.
“We have one training session left before we go to Belfast, but Taulupe will be in and around it this week which is brilliant. He is a Rolls-Royce of a player, someone who get the best out of players around him,” said Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt.
“Having him back is good for him and brilliant news for the rest of the group. It’s credit to him because it’s been a long route back and he has had to show character and resilience. He doesn’t say a huge amount, but he seems to have kept the love of playing rugby. I’m sure he has found it hard.
“He knows what he wants, he is a good professional and he knows his body and mind, so you kind of let him do his thing.”
Sherratt is dying to give his new Welsh back row internationals Alex Mann and Mackenzie Martin the chance to play alongside a player he reckons is one of the best ever to play for Wales.
“The sign of any good player in sport, a Roger Federer or a Lionel Messi, is that they have time on the ball,” added Sherratt.
“I know he will hate this but I’m putting Taulupe in this category. He has time on the ball and everything he does looks comfortable. He has that rare commodity that I can only dream of in that the game seems to go in slow motion for him.”
Faletau, who has played 104 times for Wales and won five caps on three tours with the British & Irish Lions, can use the five remaining games for Cardiff this season to prove to Gatland he is ready for the summer Tests against the world champions Springboks at Twickenham in June and then the two games against Australia the following month.
With Christian Tshiunza, Taine Plumtree, Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake all now either back playing or ready to return after missing the Six Nations through injuries, Gatland will have a bigger pool of talent to pick from for those three internationals.
Cardiff have also got Jim Botham back in full training and he looks set to be fit to play again from next week.
