Gelant's Olympic dream shattered

Gelant confirmed that he has undergone surgery to a knee injury and is now facing an extended period on the sidelines - ruling him out of the Rio Olympics.

Gelant, who spent some time on the sidelines with a fracture jaw earlier in the season, had joined the SA Academy side in Stellenbosch last week.

The Academy team - which features other Olympic hopefuls such as Werner Kok (back from a long-term knee injury suffered in the opening rounds of the Sevens World Series) and Frankie Horne  - will travel to Italy next week for the Roma Sevens.

Also included in the side are regular BlitzBoks Stephan Dippenaar, Branco du Preez, Sandile Ngcobo and Siviwe Soyizwapi.

Gelant's latest injury is a blow to the BlitzBoks, who had hoped he could be a contender for their squad that will head to the Rio Games in August.

Gelant himself took to social media to confirm the worst.

"Yes I can confirm that I tear off my ACL on my knee," he said on twitter.

"I will need to go for operation soon. This means it will be the end of my season. I'm disappointed, but it's part of rugby."