Williams ‘seriously injured’ in tunnel altercation

WORLD Rugby and Californian police are investigating a tunnel altercation that left a Wales Sevens rugby player unable to play in the rest of the World Cup, writes Anthony Woolford.

A Samoan player was suspended from the final day of the Rugby World Cup Sevens after the incident that left Welshman Tom Williams “pretty seriously injured”.

The flare-up happened in the tunnel after Wales’ 24-19 win in San Francisco that came courtesy of a golden-point try scored by Ospreys wing Williams.

After the final whistle, there was an alleged clash in that resulted in 22-year-old Shrewsbury-born Williams ‘bleeding heavily.’

The full extent of Williams’ injuries are not yet known, but the incident has warranted a full investigation from World Rugby and the San Francisco police.

Williams was replaced in the squad on Sunday by Will Talbot-Davies as Gareth Williams’ team lost to Ireland and then beat Canada 35-12 in their final match to finish 11th overall.

Samoan player Gordon Langkilde was suspended by the Samoan Rugby Union for the final day of the championship.

The WRU say no Welsh player is facing any sanctions for the incident and confirmed World Rugby will investigate the issue.

A World Rugby statement read: “We can confirm a Samoa player has been provisionally suspended from Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 following an initial investigation into an alleged incident in the tunnel area after a match between Samoa and Wales at AT&T Park on Saturday.

“The alleged behaviour is not aligned with the sport’s values and the excellent spirit in which this competition has been played by the 40 participating teams.

“World Rugby has instigated an investigation and the Samoa player will remain provisionally suspended until the final conclusion of that process.”