Williams reveals MRSA spine infection nearly left him in a wheelchair before Crusaders return

All Blacks prop Tamaiti Williams has described a months-long fight with a drug-resistant spinal infection that doctors warned could have left him in a wheelchair, with the Crusaders tighthead now working his way back toward a 2027 return.

Williams managed just 104 minutes of Super Rugby Pacific action in 2026 before what he initially dismissed as a tweaked back rapidly deteriorated. After a suspension following the Crusaders’ round-three clash with the Chiefs, he returned to training the following week only to find the pain worsening over the next ten days. He was eventually admitted to hospital, where medics identified the cause as MRSA — a superbug resistant to standard antibiotics.

“It’s a bug called MRSA. It’s like resistant to antibiotics,” Williams told The Good, The Bad, & The Rugby podcast with Andy Rowe and former All Blacks captain Kieran Read. “Pretty much settled in my disc in my back, and yeah, ate away at my disc, really. Have you ever seen, like a tree on fire? How the inside of the tree burns first. Yeah, pretty much what happened to my spine.”

The 26-year-old spent the better part of four months in hospital, during which time he lost significant weight — dropping to 122 kilograms — as the strength of the antibiotics suppressed his appetite. The infection ultimately required surgery to fuse vertebrae T12 and L1, leaving him with four screws in his spine.

The most frightening moment came early in his admission, when the medical team outlined the potential consequences. “One of the first things they told me is I might be in a wheelchair,” Williams said. “We love rugby, right? But I like walking too. I was pretty lucky that it’s in my mid-back, but if it was in my lower back, it could have had different outcomes.”

Williams also recounted the night his condition escalated to a crisis point, describing a painful episode at home that his wife and mother had to intervene to address. “I was rolling around in bed, 10 out of 10 pain, arguing with my wife not to go to the hospital. My mum gave me a call and said, ‘I want to call the police if you don’t go to the hospital.’” He eventually relented and was admitted.

Now back at Canterbury’s Rugby Park, Williams is in the early stages of rehabilitation, currently limited to walking laps of the gym as he rebuilds strength and weight. His appetite is returning and he is cautiously optimistic about his trajectory, with a return to Super Rugby Pacific competition pencilled in for the 2027 season.