BlitzBoks suffer Brown blow

Brown left the field during the Blitzboks' 14-7 victory over New Zealand in the Cup semifinal of the Cape Town Sevens, and an initial diagnosis was that he may have suffered some meniscal damage.

Springbok Sevens team doctor, Leigh Gordon, confirmed that he will now undergo surgery.

"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 said.

A number of injuries picked up in Cape Town were treated this week, but according to Gordon, none of the injuries were serious.

"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.

Prolific try-scorer Seabelo Senatla, who sustained a quadriceps muscle injury in the quarterfinal – which ruled him out of the Final – will make a full recovery.

Carel du Preez, who strained a hamstring, and Tim Agaba, who injured his ankle during a warm-up tournament in Namibia last month, are both recovering well, as is Sandile Ngcobo (knee). Their progress will be assessed once the squad re-assembles in Stellenbosch early in January.

The next tournament in the series is in Wellington on January 28-29.