Blitzbok Kyle Brown has been ruled out of the remaining eight tournaments of the World Rugby Sevens Series after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament.
The former captain sustained the injury in Blitzboks' semi-final win over New Zealand at the Cape Town Sevens last Sunday and will undergo surgery on Thursday.
'Kyle will be operated on in Cape Town tomorrow and will not be able to play for between six to nine months. This means that he will miss the remainder of the series,' said team doctor Leigh Gordon.
Several other Blitzboks received medical treatment after picking up injury niggles over the weekend, but Gordon confirmed none of the injuries were as serious as Brown's.
'Philip Snyman (hand) and Ruhan Nel (hand) underwent scans, but the results showed that they were only soft tissue injuries. They will be fit to resume training when the squad assembles again early in January,' Gordon said.
Seabelo Senatla also picked up a quadricep muscle injury, which ruled him out of Sunday's final against England; but he too will make a full recovery.
Carel du Preez (hamstring strain), Tim Agaba (ankle) and Sandile Ngcobo (knee) are all recovering well and their progress will be assessed once the squad re-assembles in Stellenbosch next year.
The next tournament is the Wellington Sevens on 28 and 29 January.
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