CHIPPENHAM lock Martin Walsh will spend the close season with 17 pins in his shattered right leg after suffering a horrific injury in Saturday 27 April's promotion play-off defeat by Berry Hill.

Walsh, 35, was buried under a pile of bodies after making a 61st minute tackle on his own try line.

The diagnosis at the Royal United Hospital, Bath, showed Walsh had broken both the tibia and fibula bones in his right leg, chipped the bone, and fractured it in as many as ten places.

His wife Cynthia felt the injury was best summed up by the words of staff at the hospital. She said: "One doctor said it was the type of injury you only see in a motorcycle accident, while another said to him 'who were you playing rugby against, a rhino?'

"Three of the guys fell on him and one was particularly big. His leg just went one way and he went the other.

"Both the tibia and fibula are broken and there are chips missing from his bone and he has fractured it from the break in the centre of his shin down to the ankle and up to the knee."

Walsh was due to take over the Chippenham captaincy from Scott Sherratt next season, but there are now fears he will never play rugby again.

Said Mrs Walsh: "He is a bit down in the mouth at the moment and it is really too early to say whether he'll play again or not. He's coming out on Thursday, so that is a good thing."

Walsh, a father of three, underwent a three-hour operation on Sunday in order to repair his broken leg. He works for Advanced Light Solutions, an electronics design bureau, on Bumpers Farm and is able to work from home while he makes his recovery.

Chippenham recovered from Saturday's disappointment to secure a place in tonight's Bath Combination Cup final at The Recreation Ground with a 33-0 win over Westbury on Tuesday.

Chippenham will face Western Counties outfit Walcot Old Boys in the final at Bath RFC this evening. Skipper Scott Sherratt hopes his side can end a promising season with some silverware.

He said: "I hope we can win to cap the season off but, if we don't, it will still have been a successful season."