Rugby Union: Boy's neck broken

Dewi Coates, a teenaged Welsh flanker, is recovering in hospital after breaking his neck in the Under-18 schools international against New Zealand.at Cardiff Arms Park, writes Rob Cole.

The Neath Tertiary College student was injured in a tackle five minutes from time on Saturday and was taken by ambulance to Cardiff Royal Infirmary, where X-rays showed he had fractured his fifth cervical vertebrae.

"He is in a stable condition and he has recovered some feeling in his feet and arms," the Welsh Schools honorary medical officer, Bill Rees, said yesterday. "The good news is that the spinal column has not been severed and everyone is hopeful he will be able to lead a normal life."

Coates, who played for the Welsh Schools Under-16 side two seasons ago, was winning his second Under-18 cap of the season.