Springbok Sevens star Cecil Afrika injured his ribs during the 31-7 victory over Japan and is a doubt for the rest of the tournament.

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The Blitzbokke recorded their second victory of Day One at the Gold Coast sevens, but may have paid a big price for the win with Afrika going to hospital to have the extent of his rib injury assessed.

Afrika has been diagnosed with a rib fracture, which is bad news for last season’s IRB international sevens player of the year.

Coach Paul Treu will rue the loss of the speedster, who is capable of changing a game single handedly.

It has yet to be confirmed how long the injury will keep Afrika sidelined, but with back-to-back tournaments in New Zealand and Port Elizabeth in the next two weekends, the sooner he is available the better for South Africa.