Williams` wayward tendon costs six weeks
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Monday 04th May 2009
Blues and All Black lock Ali Williams, whose new contract with the NZRU has raised a few eyebrows with its sabbatical period written in, faces six weeks out of the game with tendonitis.
Williams aggravated a long-standing problem in the Blues' defeat to the Hurricanes on Friday, having recovered from a similar problem earlier in the season.
His availability for the initial test of the June Series against France on June 13 is now up in the air.
"He has had an Achilles tendonitis problem," Blues team doctor Stephen Kara told Yahoo!Xtra.
"That is affecting the mid portion of the tendon. He had something acutely go wrong in the game on Friday night, as people saw.
"And the scan shows he has a small split in the tendon, extending for about a 5m length.
"He is going to be in rest and rehab for a four to six weeks.
"We now have to treat him for what is best for him, rather than what is best for the Blues."
Kara said the best thing possible for Williams was a mix of rest and rehab - and then warned Williams could be out for longer, potentially even for the Tri-Nations.
"You just have to listen to the symptoms and he has to have a structured rehab programme," he said.
"We are confident that if he does that, he will come out the other side well. But that could be over a six to twelve-week time period.
"When I mean rest, I mean non-running aerobic type exercise. So there will be a lot of cycling and swimming. But essentially, there will be no running in that time.
"Then we will look at a running programme as the symptoms settle."
With Anthony Boric also considering surgery to repair a damaged toe and foot ligament, the All Blacks' lock stocks are running low.
http://www.planetrugby.com/Story/0,1...277403,00.html
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