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Rugby Union

Perry has surgery on throat

19/12/2007

Bristol and England scrum-half Shaun Perry has undergone surgery to repair a fracture to the cartilage in his windpipe suffered at the weekend.

The stand-in skipper sustained the problem in the Heineken Cup victory over Harlequins on Sunday and although he was able to complete the match, the full extent of the injury was diagnosed earlier this week.

It is the second time this season that a Bristol player has been ruled out with the unusual injury after Nathan Budgett was sidelined following a match against Cardiff Blues in November.

Bristol head coach Richard Hill lamented: "When [Budgett] suffered his injury, none of us had even seen an injury of this type before.

"For a second player to get injured in the same way barely a month later beggars belief."

Hill, a former England international himself, said he was disappointed to lose Perry so soon after he returned to club rugby following the World Cup and after stepping into a role as the captain of Bristol.

"I feel for Shaun," Hill continued.

"He returned from the Rugby World Cup and got straight back to work with Bristol.

"He's been superb for us, has embraced his role as a senior player and I've had no hesitation naming him captain in Matt Salter's absence."

Perry joins Dan Ward-Smith on the Bristol injury list after the number eight was also forced to go under the knife to repair a broken metacarpal in his hand.

"It's very unlucky for him," Hill added of the forward, who missed the World Cup and the Six Nations with a knee injury.

"Last year, just before he did his knee, he was out for six weeks with a broken thumb. So the last two seasons have been pretty wretched for him."