Sonny Bill Williams set for knee surgery - and could return without missing a match

Former All Black Sonny Bill Williams is set to undergo knee surgery without missing a Super League match.

The Toronto Wolfpack forward missed his club's 18-0 win over Huddersfield in the fifth round of the Challenge Cup last week with a knee injury he is thought to have carried into the season with his new club.

Wolfpack coach Brian McDermott suggested after last Wednesday's tie that the 34-year-old second rower may need minor surgery to correct the problem.

The club confirmed on Twitter that will now happen: "Sonny Bill Williams is scheduled to undergo an operation on his knee. He is expected to recover in three weeks."

With all rugby league wiped out for the next three weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic, Williams may not miss any fixtures.

Toronto are next due in action in the sixth round of the cup on the weekend of April 4 and 5.

They are then scheduled to play their first Super League game in Canada on April 11, when Hull are due to visit the Lamport Stadium.

Williams, who joined the Wolfpack on a two-year deal that made him the highest-paid player in either code of rugby, played in the club's first two matches before returning to New Zealand to attend the birth of his fourth child.

He then played in three successive matches before sitting out the cup tie against the Giants.