Wales suffer crucial injury blow before All Blacks test

Wales have suffered a major blow with versatile weapon Liam Williams ruled out of this weekend's test against the All Blacks, severely denting their chances of ending a 64-year old drought against the men in black.

Williams will be sidelined with an abdominal injury suffered in the 13-6 victory over Georgia last weekend.

Wales assistant coach Shaun Edwards said that Wales is taking the 'next man up' siege mentality.

"The next guy on the roster is up. I think Steff [Evans] and Hallam [Amos] have got a pretty good chance of getting picked. We'll work it out," Edwards told reporters on Tuesday (NZT Wednesday).

"We've gone from having the biggest backline in world rugby to one of the smallest."

Williams, who can play at fullback or on the wing and was a stand-out performer for the British and Irish Lions in their drawn series with the All Blacks in June, playing a major role in scoring one of the best Lions tries of all time in the first test.

The loss of Williams will be felt on attack, with Williams elusive running style hard to replace.