Injured lock Ali Williams is to bring forward his 'sabbatical' and return for the full Super 14 in 2010.
The 61-Test second rower has a New Zealand Rugby Union-approved break written in his contract and had originally planned to take it after the end-of-year tour, meaning he would have missed the early weeks of the Blues' Super 14 campaign.
But after being told surgery was the only cure for a troublesome Achilles problem, which has hampered him for most of the year and kept him out of Tests against France and Italy, Williams now plans to take his trip to the United States with girlfriend Casey Green sooner rather than later and be back to start afresh next year.
‘I've obviously talked about having an extended leave and it's been forced upon me now,’ the 28-year-old told stuff.co.nz.
'I'll take that and go and do what I'm going to do and come back revitalised and ready to go. There are always positives out of things that aren't so pleasing. We'll take off and experience the world and see what it has for me, then come back to doing what I love.
‘And here's hoping this little break is going to give me a few more years at the end of it.’
Williams will have surgery on his right Achilles and left shoulder on Monday and will then require at least a four-month recovery period.
He admitted it had been an intensely frustrating year but said he was now focused on making a full recovery.
‘I'm over the frustrations. You've just got to accept it and move on and have other visions and do what you need to do to come back,’ he said.
‘When you can't play a game that you love, you have to look at other things. You can't waste energy.’
New Zealand coach Graham Henry names his 30-man squad for the Tri-Nations series against Australia and South Africa tomorrow.
With Williams ruled out is seems likely that Jason Eaton, who was part of the title-winning Junior All Blacks side in the Pacific Nations Cup, will come in as the fourth lock to join Brad Thorn, Isaac Ross and Bryn Evans.
