Wales wing Prydie sidelined for eight months

[TRF_Cymro]

Teenager Tom Prydie's hopes of challenging for a place in the Wales World Cup squad appear to be over.

The Ospreys wing will undergo knee reconstruction surgery later this week after being injured during a Magners League game against Glasgow.

He is expected to be sidelined for six to eight months.

Prydie became the youngest Wales international of all-time last season, making his Test debut at the age of 18 years and 25 days against Italy.

Prydie, now 19, then went on to score a try against world champions South Africa in Cardiff before touring New Zealand during the summer and featuring in both appointments with the All Blacks.

But he has now been overtaken in the Wales pecking order behind Shane Williams by wings like Leigh Halfpenny, George North and Morgan Stoddart, suggesting World Cup selection would have been an uphill battle.

Ospreys physiotherapist Chris Towers said: "The scans show that Tom has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, confirming what we were expecting.

"Having sought specialist advice regarding the injury, he will now undergo a surgical reconstruction of the ligament later this week once the knee has fully recovered from the initial trauma.

"He is looking at a lengthy lay-off, anticipated to be somewhere in the region of six to eight months."

Wales next play on June 4, when they face the Barbarians in Cardiff, followed by August World Cup warm-up games against England (twice) and Argentina.

The deadline for coach Warren Gatland to name his 30-man World Cup squad is August 22.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/ospreys/9432176.stm​

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Don't think he would've been challenging for a Wales spot, tbh, but it does hamper his chances of getting more gametime for the Ospreys early next season when players are off at the WC

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Prydie is overrated anyway. Boy is a good sprinter but lacks a real rugby brain, he's just a younger version of Tom James.

 

[Gavin]

Prydie is overrated anyway. Boy is a good sprinter but lacks a real rugby brain, he's just a younger version of Tom James.

The kid is 19 and has played for Wales - that's more than what most people achieve in a lifetime.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

The kid is 19 and has played for Wales - that's more than what most people achieve in a lifetime.

On the little amount of rugby he played he hardly set the world alight. Prior to this season he had played more times for Wales than the Ospreys. He struggles to even to get into Swansea RFC starting line up. He was even poor for Wales 7s in the Commonwealth, which is supri. It was a knee jerk reaction in trying to find the next James O'Connor.

 

[Peat]

Horrific though, overrated or no I'd wish that on no man.

 

[dullonien]

The injuries many players are picking-up at such young ages nowerdays is worrying. To need knee reconstruction at the age of 19 could potentially result in the end of his professional career. Add this to North requiring majour shoulder surgery before his 19th birthday, Warburton seemingly getting injury after injury, and Ben Lewis spending more time on the sidelines than actually playing, and things don't look great. Someone on Scrum V commented that we may see players like this who have played international rugby at a young age possibly being forced to retire earlier than usual due to the strain their body is put under.

 

[Peat]

The injuries many players are picking-up at such young ages nowerdays is worrying. To need knee reconstruction at the age of 19 could potentially result in the end of his professional career. Add this to North requiring majour shoulder surgery before his 19th birthday, Warburton seemingly getting injury after injury, and Ben Lewis spending more time on the sidelines than actually playing, and things don't look great. Someone on Scrum V commented that we may see players like this who have played international rugby at a young age possibly being forced to retire earlier than usual due to the strain their body is put under.

How exactly did he get it? Some of its just bad luck, and thats the way it will be. But I think real care about how soon a player is ready for top level rugby needs to be taken.

 

[dullonien]

Yeh, Prydies injury was just bad luck. Looked like he twisted his knee whilst trying to step a player. Those kinda of things will happen, and always have. It's the shoulder reconstructions etc. that worry me.

There was a documentary on either BBC2W or S4C (can't remember which now) looking into the impacts some players are exposed to during games. They ran loads of medical tests and computer simulations on Jamie Roberts and the results were startling. The cracked skull he suffered against Austrailia a couple of years ago was a massive collision comparable to a car accident apparently. The fact that he got up and continued for a further 20min is commendable and brave, but could have led to a life threatening injury if he was caught again!