The Wales captain, Gwyn Jones, will never play rugby again, regardless of whether or not he makes a full recovery from the spinal cord injury he suffered during Cardiff's match against Swansea last weekend.

The 25-year old flanker, who has won 13 Wales caps, yesterday announced his retirement from the game through his father, Alun, who spoke at a press conference at the hospital where Jones is being treated in Cardiff.

The consultant neuro-surgeon who operated on Jones earlier this week, Jonathan Vafidis , said it was too early to say if the player would make a full recovery from his injury.

"He faces a long stay in hospital of up to eight months but he has made an improvement this week and he has some movement in his arms and legs. His injury is a serious and a complex one. It is also rare.

"I will be able to say with more certainty in a couple of weeks how things will go but I am upbeat about his long-term future. Gwyn has undergone a profoundly unpleasant experience but he is very positive most of the time.

"In my 10 years' experience, I have never seen a rugby player with this type of injury. He suffered an incomplete lesion of his spinal cord and it would have been worse but for the fact that his supreme fitness ensured that his neck muscles gave his spinal cord the fullest protection."

Alun Jones, a doctor, said that his son would not play rugby again. He added that his 19-yearold daughter Luned, who a month ago started playing for the Cardiff University Ladies' side, had also decided to give up the game.

"They both made their own decisions," said Mr Jones. "Gwyn's injury was a complete accident. I have been involved in rugby for 25 years and the chances of a player suffering a spinal cord injury is one every 27,000 matches.

"He was fortunate that it happened at Cardiff Arms Park where the medical facilities were firs-tclass. As a medical student, Gwyn knew he had suffered a serious injury and thought he had broken his neck. "We do not know what is going to happen in the future. It was an unlucky injury. Goodness knows how it does not happen more often. It used to be the scrum which was the danger area but now it is the tackle."