Williams adds to growing injury list
Umaga unsure how long SBW will be out after All Black forced off with head knock
Sonny Bill Williams has joined the All Blacks injury crisis list, with the Blues back's immediate future in doubt because of concussion. Coach Tana Umaga confirmed yesterday that Williams was displaying concussion symptoms, although he was unable to confirm whether he had failed an official assessment during the Blues' 40-33 win over the Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday.
Williams left the field just before halftime for a head injury assessment after team mate and prop Pauliasi Manu landed on him, and never returned.
Umaga said he had been advised by the Blues doctor that Williams was not fit to continue against the Waratahs.
“I just talked to the doctor, who said ‘I don't think he should go back on’. I don't know if he failed the test as such.”
Umaga did not want to speculate, saying the Blues took concussion situations very seriously, and as recent events had shown, it was hard to know sometimes if players would be out long-term.
“It will be a wait and see how he responds,” said Umaga. “It's just how he pulls up [yesterday], how he pulls up [today]. He was still having
It will be a wait and see how he responds. Tana Umaga on Sonny Bill Williams
symptoms after the game. He just wasn't feeling well.
“What's happened with concussion in the past . . . sometimes people respond well and can play next week and sometimes they don't.
“We are seeing cases now where people don't come back. I don't want to put him in that box. He was up and about and alert but knew himself he was feeling off. No one knows their body like themselves.”
The Blues, who have won their past two matches, will face the Cheetahs at Eden Park on Friday.
The Super Rugby competition is rapidly taking its toll on a number of key All Blacks ahead of the tour by the British and Irish Lions, and the New Zealand side for the first test on June 24 in Auckland could yet be without some first-choice players.
All Blacks captain Kieran Read has a broken thumb, as does Highlanders loose forward Liam Squire, while fellow loosie Jerome Kaino has required knee surgery and hooker Dane Coles has problems with a calf injury and concussion concerns.