Wales full-back Liam Williams has been ruled out of the Autumn Nations Series after undergoing surgery on a collarbone injury.
Williams, 31, will be out of action for between 12-16 weeks after going under the knife on Monday having picked up the injury in Cardiff’s United Rugby Championship win over Munster.
The two-time British & Irish Lion injured himself in the 20th minute of his Cardiff debut, having moved from Scarlets at the end of last season, before his new side went on to win 20-13 on Saturday.
Speaking after the match, Cardiff director of rugby Dai Young said: “It’s a collarbone injury, it doesn’t look good.
“The physios have had a look at it and it looks quite a significant injury. I have no idea over the timescale or how bad it is, but he doesn’t come off easily.
“He was in a lot of pain. The doctor thinks it was definitely a collarbone. How bad it is we’ll see in the next 24 hours.”
Wales boss Wayne Pivac will be without Williams, who started four out of five games in the 2022 Guinness Six Nations, for their fixtures against New Zealand, Argentina, Georgia and Australia.
Autumn Nations Series fixtures
Wales kick-off their Autumn Nations Series campaign against the All Blacks on November 5 in the first of four successive matches.
However, there was better news for Pivac – who coached Wales to the 2021 Guinness Six Nations title – in the same game as 91-cap international Taulupe Faletau shone at No.8 on his Cardiff debut.
Faletau made the move back to Wales from Bath over the summer and is set to play a starring role during the Autumn Nations Series.
