Hansen goes under the knife

The New Zealander went under the knife on Monday as an old rugby injury flared up during the team’s pre Rugby World Cup warmup in Lanzarote.

“It’s an old knee injury which has been playing up for about six months,” Team Manager Alan Phillips said. “It’s a cartilage thing – they just went in there and cleaned it up. He was in and out on the same day.”

Phillips said there were no serious injuries among the thirty man squad, although there was ‘plenty of fatigue and the odd ankle strain’. “They really put the work in over there, fair play to them,” the former Wales hooker said. “There are a lot of tired bodies in the team.”

Phillips said it was too early to say if all thirty players would take part in a training match at the Millennium Stadium on Wednesday.