Rugby: Shane Williams faces a battle to be fit for Wales' Six Nations opener against England in Cardiff on February 4th. The Ospreys wing dislocated his left shoulder and was forced off at half-time during the 29-25 defeat against world champions South Africa on Saturday.
He will be sidelined for a minimum of 10 weeks, and now faces exploratory surgery in the next 48 hours. He was hurt after falling awkwardly in a tackle. Williams is already ruled out of Wales’ remaining autumn appointments with Fiji and New Zealand, with the Ospreys set to be minus his services for their last four Heineken Cup pool games, in addition to Magners League matches.
“A scan has revealed that Shane did, as was thought, dislocate his shoulder, before it immediately moved back into place,” said Wales team physiotherapist Mark Davies. “He will now undergo exploratory surgery in the next 48 hours to assess the full extent of the damage caused by the dislocation, but we know he will be out of action now for a minimum of 10 weeks.”
Williams, a former International Rugby Board world player of the year, remains Wales’ most potent attacking threat, as illustrated by his mesmeric work in creating a first-half try for centre James Hook against the Springboks. Teenage debutant George North starred on the other wing for Wales, scoring two tries, and coach Warren Gatland should be able to call on Leigh Halfpenny for the Six Nations after an ankle injury ruled him out of the entire autumn campaign.
Gatland, meanwhile, has also lost Wasps back-row forward Andy Powell for the Fiji game. Powell lined up against South Africa in his first Wales start since his infamous golf buggy driving incident last February, but he is now nursing a groin problem.
Davies added: “Andy will be reassessed at the start of next week, but he won’t figure on Friday night.”