Cape Town – Former Springbok Sevens captain Kyle Brown has been ruled out for the rest of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament.
Brown, 29, suffered the injury in the Blitzbok's semi-final victory over New Zealand at the Cape Town Sevens tournament on Sunday. Leigh Gordon, the Springbok Sevens team doctor, said Brown would undergo surgery to repair the rupture.
“Kyle will be operated on in Cape Town on Thursday and will not be able to play for between six to nine months. This means that he will miss the remainder of the series,” Gordon told the SA Rugby website.
Team talisman Seabelo Senatla also picked up a thigh injury, which ruled him out of South Africa's 17-19 loss to England in the final, but is set to make a full recover.
“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 added.
The Blitzboks were not able to call on Carel du Preez, Tim Agaba, and Sandile Ngcobo in Cape Town, due to respective hamstring, ankle and knee injuries, and Gordon said they would be assessed when the squad re-assembles in Stellenbosch early in January before the next tournament.
Brown, a veteran of 58 tournaments, stepped down as Blitzboks captain in November and was replaced by Philip Snyman. South African went on to win the first round of the Sevens Series in Dubai, when they beat Fiji 26-14 in the final on December 3.
The next round takes place in Wellington, New Zealand and will be played on 28 and 29 January.