Welsh winger Shane Williams’ injury is worse than expected
Welsh winger Shane Williams is expected miss part of the Six Nations after undergoing surgery on his shoulder injury.
Williams injured his shoulder in a tackle with Francois Steyn in Wales’ 29-25 defeat to South Africa on Saturday 13 November.
The British and Irish Lion dislocated his shoulder, but the injury was not expected to be so serious as the bone popped back into place during the tackle.
However, exploratory surgery revealed that there was significant damage to the winger’s shoulder.
Williams is now expected to miss 10 to 12 weeks. "I'm looking at five to six weeks in the sling that I'm in at the moment. That means I can't really do anything for the next five weeks. Then I'm looking at 10 to 12 weeks all together, so it's a bit gutting
really that I'm going to be out that long,” Williams told Scrum V Radio.
The injury is likely to rule the 33-year-old out of the opening two games of the Six Nations.
Wales plays England in their Six Nations opening game on 4 February and then travels to Scotland the following week.
It is expected that the winger will only return to full contact training in early February and will not be able to return to competitive rugby until the middle of the month.
The Welsh winger will be disappointed that he will fail to make an impact in the opening stages of the Six Nations in a World Cup year.
"I'm going to miss the next few months. I'm gutted really because I was enjoying my rugby, but I can't worry too much about missing games now, can't dwell on it, because I'll end up trying to push and get back earlier than I possibly can,” said Williams.
The player will also be worried that he may lose his place to the likes of up-and-coming wingers George North and Leigh Halfpenny, in what will be Williams’ last World Cup.
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