Rugby:Shane Williams has a fight on his hands to start the Six Nations Championship after it was revealed the Wales wing's left shoulder dislocation against South Africa at the weekend will rule him out for a minimum of 10 weeks.
The injury puts his participation in Wales' Six Nations opener against England in Cardiff on February 4th in jeopardy. The Ospreys wing, Wales' record international try-scorer with 51 Test touchdowns, was forced off at half-time during the 29-25 defeat to the Springboks on Saturday.
"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. The coach has also lost Wasps backrow forward Andy Powell for the Fiji game this weekend.
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."
Newport Gwent Dragons flanker Dan Lydiate, who was sidelined from the Springboks clash due to ankle trouble, is in contention to face Fiji, but prop Gethin Jenkins is a confirmed non-starter because of a calf injury.
"Dan is still in with a chance this week," said Davies. "His rehab is progressing well and no decision has yet been made on him. We will know more over the next 24 hours. Gethin has had an initial scan which failed to show the extent of his calf problem. He will not feature this Friday night and will undergo another scan this week which should give us a clearer idea of his situation.
"Sam Warburton (calf) is progressing too, and he should be up and running in time for next week (against New Zealand)."
Wales, who were knocked out of the 2007 World Cup by Fiji, are on a run of five successive Test defeats, having lost to New Zealand (twice) South Africa (twice) and Australia.