Wales full-back Lee Byrne could miss the entire autumn Test series after fracturing a finger in Ospreys defeat to Glasgow on Sunday.
Full-back certain to miss first three autumn Tests
Wales full-back Lee Byrne could miss the entire autumn Test series after fracturing a finger in Ospreys defeat to Glasgow on Sunday.
The Lions player will definitely be out for the first three games against Australia, South Africa and Fiji, and has only an outside chance of returning to face New Zealand on November 27.
Byrne cracked the third metacarpal in his right hand during the 31-23 Magners League defeat, and has been replaced in Warren Gatland's squad by Cardiff Blues back Chris Czekaj.
"Lee Byrne will be given a specialist opinion on whether the injury is treatable with a cast," said Wales team physiotherapist Mark Davies.
"If that is the case, rather than surgery, he will have an outside chance of being back for the All Blacks game."
In other news, Scarlets back-row forward Rob McCusker has withdrawn from the squad to undergo a hernia operation.
"The decision has been taken for Rob to have surgery sooner rather than later to give him a chance of returning to the international arena in time for the Six Nations Championship and therefore to make the 2011 Rugby World Cup squad," Davies reported.
Cardiff Blues wing Leigh Halfpenny, a possible full-back alternative to Byrne, is awaiting the result of a scan on an ankle problem, while back-row forward Ryan Jones will undergo a calf muscle scan.
Blues scrum-half Richie Rees and lock Bradley Davies, meanwhile, face checks on what are described as minor injury concerns.
"Leigh Halfpenny sustained an injury to his ankle, but we are unable to give any more information at the moment other than he will have a scan to attempt to rule out any significant injury," added Davies.
"Ryan, Bradley and Richie will all be scanned as a matter of routine.
"Ryan has a calf problem which he picked up in Glasgow yesterday, and we will know more over the next 24 hours, but he is not ruled out of the Australia match at the moment."
