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Three months out: Brive and
England centre Riki Flutey
Photo: Michael Paler |
England
and Brive centre Riki Flutey has been ordered to rest for three months to
allow his shoulder injury to heal.
The
29-year-old has played just once for Brive this season - since joining from
London Wasps - and his prolonged absence is a major blow to the Limousin
club as they seek to make an impact in both Top 14 and the Heineken Cup.
It is also
bad news for England manager Martin Johnson as Flutey will now miss the
Autumn internationals against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand.
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"An
arthroscopic examination of Riki Flutey's left shoulder labrum was performed
this morning," said an RFU spokesman.
"As a
result, the surgeon has concluded, in conjunction with the England and Brive
medical teams that Riki will be unavailable for a period of up to three
months," he added.
Flutey
sustained the injury during the summer's British Lions tour to South Africa.
Brive at
least had better news of fellow England international Andy Goode, who has
avoided further surgery on his groin. The former Leicester player has , like
Flutey, only managed one game so far this season, but looked set for a further trip under
the surgeon's knife after contracting a bacterial infection as a result of
his initial op.
But a trip back to England appears to
have allayed his fears and while Goode will definitely miss Saturday's home
game against Biarritz he could be back in action the following weekend.
Elsewhere, Bayonne have broken off transfer talks with sacked Wallaby
Lote Tuqiri, citing the player's spiralling wage demands as the
reason.
The news comes less than 24 hours after
Midi Olympique reported that the 30-year-old was on the cusp of
signing a two-year deal. Bayonne were thought to be offering in the region
of AUD$1m per season to sign the winger.
Stade Toulousain are still
awaiting further news of Byron Kelleher after the former All Black
scrum-half was arrested last week following an alleged drink-driving
incident. Reports suggested Kelleher, 32, was injured in a road-side brawl
which left him temporarily unconscious, and that he was unable to provide
police with a breath specimen.
Club colleague Alberto Basualdo,
meanwhile, has had 17 stitches in a leg wound sustained during Saturday's
unconvincing 19-13 home win over basement club SCA Albi.
