Report: Wales 11-10 Fiji Ruddock looks on bright side

The Osprey, who toured with the Lions last summer, needs surgery and will be out for between four and six months.

That is a huge blow to Wales coach Mike Ruddock as he plans the defence of their Six Nations crown in February.

Also a doubt for next Saturday's clash with South Africa are Chris Horsman, Kevin Morgan and Dafydd Jones.

All four players suffered their injuries as Wales narrowly avoided a damaging defeat to Fiji in Cardiff.

But Cockbain was carried off after suffering a freak hyper-extension of the knee as the studs of his boot caught in the turf.

"Things don't look good when you see someone like Brent Cockbain being taken off on a stretcher," Ruddock said.

Skipper Gareth Thomas, Stephen Jones, Colin Charvis and Mefin Davies will all return from club duty for next Saturday's clash with the Springboks.

But with a record Cardiff loss to the All Blacks last week, plus the unconvincing win over Fiji and Cockbain's injury on Friday, the autumn internationals have not been kind to Wales.

There were lots of good performances, particularly up front Wales coach Mike Ruddock

"There is a lot of firepower to come back next week and we will look at the areas we need to improve on," Ruddock added.

"Injury-wise, we've got a few more headaches we didn't need."

With the likes of Gavin Henson, Gethin Jenkins, Tom Shanklin, Ryan Jones and Dwayne Peel already on the sidelines, Wales are now looking even more threadbare.

Although Wales only just escaped an embarrassing loss against Fiji courtesy of Nick Robinson's late drop-goal, Ruddock was determined to pick out positives from the game.

"There were lots of good performances, particularly up front, while Matthew Watkins looked sharp in the centre and full-back Lee Byrne did a couple of special things, so there were a lot of positives," Ruddock said.

"I thought our set-piece was magnificent. Hooker Rhys Thomas was exceptional and Luke Charteris bossed the line-out.

"But two things killed us: inaccuracy in our passing and the number of penalties we conceded."