Leeds: Former England fly-half Danny Cipriani was in hospital with concussion on Thursday after being hit by a bus, his club Sale Sharks said.
The 25-year-old had been on a night out in the northern English city of Leeds with his Sale teammates and a club spokesman confirmed he was being treated for concussion.
Cipriani, who has seven England caps, joined Sale on a three-year deal last year in a bid to revive his international career after a controversy-marred stint with Australian club the Melbourne Rebels. While in Australia he was under the spotlight for breaching team discipline on a number of occasions.
Cipriani landed in hot water in 2011 for not paying for services at a local nightspot and was later stood down for a month for breaching team curfews and failing to turn up to training.
Meanwhile, South Africa have handed central contracts to 15 players they believe will be at the core of Springbok rugby this year and in the wake of a growing list of defections to lucrative club offers overseas.
Emerging talent like Marcell Coetzee, Juan de Jongh, Eben Etzebeth and Pat Lambie were included, along with hooker Bismarck du Plessis who is recovering from a long-term injury.
The South African Rugby Union admits it is battling against the pull of offers to some its best players from clubs in England, France, Ireland and Japan. “We’ve kept as many of our top players in South Africa as we could by awarding them national contracts, despite the powerful lure of the Pound, Euro and Yen,” said SARU chief executive officer Jurie Roux in a statement on Wednesday.
“We worked hard to ensure the best possible deal is placed on the table for the players.”
