Recovering going to plan for Williams

Shane Williams could be in contention for selection for the Rugby World Cup Round 4 Pool D clash with Fiji at the Waikato Stadium on Sunday and fellow injury victims Dan Lydiate and James Hook remain on course to return should Wales progress to the quarter-final stage of the New Zealand-based tournament.

The Ospreys wing and all-time record try scorer for his country, who missed his side’s comprehensive 81 – 7 victory over Namibia in New Plymouth on Monday night with a thigh strain, is at the running stage of his rehabilitation.

“Shane is recovering well,” said WRU national medical performance manager Prav Mathema. “He is back up and running and we are pleased with his progress, but the next 48 hours will be essential in determining whether he may be available to us this weekend.”

Dragons back row forward Lydiate, who injured his ankle during Wales’ second round 17 – 10 win over Samoa, remains on target to return in the next fortnight.

“Dan is now back running again after suffering an ankle ligament strain in the Samoa game,” added Mathema. “He has been incredibly diligent with his rehab and his self management and as a consequence has given himself every opportunity to be available for selection within the next two weeks. He still has a number of stages to complete within his rehabilitation but we are confident that he will continue to make a swift recovery.”

Hook also injured his shoulder in the Samoa match ruling him out of last weekend’s outing in New Plymouth and the Perpignan-bound utility back is progressing at a similar rate to Lydiate.

“James has also been extremely thorough with his rehabilitation and is recovering well from the A/C joint injury to his shoulder,” added Mathema. “We are hoping to integrate him into full training towards the start of next week.”

Elsewhere, the Wales squad picked up no new significant injury problems last weekend.