Wednesday Afternoon Round Up

Brown ruled out 6-9 months

Springbok Sevens player, Kyle Brown, has been ruled out of the remaining eight tournaments of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in South Africa’s semi-final victory over New Zealand at the Cape Town Sevens tournament on Sunday.

“Kyle will be operated on in Cape Town on Thursday (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,” confirmed Springbok Sevens team doctor, Leigh Gordon.

The next tournament in the series is in Wellington, New Zealand and will be played on 28 and 29 January.

Zack Holmes signs for Toulouse

Stade Toulousain has officially announced the signing of Australian Zack Holmes from La Rochelle.

"Zack is a versatile player and is able to bring his vision of the game and has the ability to overcome the defensive lines," commented the club's director of Rugby in a statement.

"His knowledge of the game and its great regularity in the performance of homers made him indispensable in his current club. At 26, Zack has the double advantage of youth and experience, which will enable it to register permanently in the sports project of the club," he concluded.

The flyhalf will wear the red and black shirt from the 2017-2018 season.

Phil Burleigh suspended for one week

Edinburgh Rugby centre, Phil Burleigh, has been suspended for one week after he was sent off for striking Stade Francais Paris second row Pascal Papé in the 55th minute of his club's European Rugby Challenge Cup Round 3 match against Stade Francais Paris at BT Murrayfield.

In upholding the red card decision, the Committee found that the offence was at the low end of World Rugby's sanctions and selected two weeks as the appropriate entry point.

Taking into account Burleigh's clean disciplinary record, his guilty plea and expression of remorse, the Committee decided to reduce the sanction by the maximum of 50 per cent before imposing a one-week suspension.

Burleigh is free to play on Monday, 19 December with the right to appeal the decision.

James Davies suspended for three weeks

Scarlets flanker, James Davies, has been suspended for three weeks after being cited for using foul and/or abusive language, and for making an obscene gesture during the first-half of the European Rugby Champions Cup Round 3 match against RC Toulon at Stade Felix Mayol.

In upholding the citing complaint, the Committee found that the offence was at the low end of World Rugby's sanctions and selected four weeks as the appropriate entry point.

As Davies had served a previous ban in 2014, the Committee decided not to reduce the sanction by the maximum of 50 per cent, but taking into account Davies' guilty plea and timely expression of remorse, it decided to reduce the sanction by one week before imposing a suspension of three weeks.

He is free to play on Monday, 2 January 2017 with the right to appeal.

England confirm 2017 fixtures

After an unbeaten 2016 on the international scene, England's fixtures have been confirmed for the 2017 Old Mutual Wealth Series and Cup.

First, an England XV will take on the Barbarians in the Old Mutual Wealth Cup at Twickenham on 28 May. The match will take place the day after the Premiership final, and before England fly to Argentina for a two-Test summer series.

Eddie Jones' men will then play three Test matches against Argentina (11 November), Australia (18 November) and Samoa (25 November) at Twickenham.