Sam Burgess will undergo surgery on a broken cheekbone before joining Bath Rugby later this month after picking up the injury on his way to helping South Sydney Rabbitohs win the NRL title on Sunday.
Burgess' cross-code move to Bath was announced back in February, with the rugby league superstar due to arrive at The Rec on Wednesday, October 15.
But the 25-year-old looks set to report to his new club carrying an injury following a heroic performance in the Rabbitohs' 30-6 victory over Canterbury Bulldogs in the NRL final in Australia - his final game before joining the club.
Burgess suffered a broken cheekbone in the first collision of the match with fellow Englishman James Graham but played on throughout the 80 minutes as Souths won a first title in 43 years.
Burgess, who won the Clive Churchill medal for man on the match, said: "The doc seems to be thinking surgery [on Monday]. We'll see how it goes, but I'd imagine I'll be getting it fixed in the next 24 hours. I guess the joy is overriding the pain at the moment.
"I knew I'd broke it straight away. The side of my face just felt numb. My head was a little bit dizzy and I had a bit of blurred vision. But we just covered for each other and there were a lot of guys out there helping me through it. There was not a chance I was missing out.
"I wasn't really listening to what [the doctor] was saying. The teammates really helped me through the process. I'm just really happy for the team ... it's been a great effort all year.
"James is a great competitor and I've got a lot of respect for him as a guy and a competitor. I just told him [at full-time] I'm going to miss him. He's a friend I'll have forever, but that's all that was said."
