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Australian rugby sevens captain James Stannard has been ruled out of the Commonwealth Games after sustaining a fractured skull after being punched by a man outside a fast-food restaurant early yesterday morning.
Rugby Australia said that Stannard was taken to St Vincent's Hospital, where he is in stable condition, after being struck by another man at 3.10am. It said New South Wales Police have charged a 22-year-old man over an alleged "one-punch" assault.
Rugby Australia said Stannard was with a group of teammates, along with head coach Andy Friend, at the time of the incident. It said Stannard was struck by a man in an unprovoked attack after reportedly having a conversation with him outside the restaurant.
Several members of the Australian men's sevens team were witness to the attack and two of Stannard's teammates, Lewis Holland and Ben O'Donnell, along with Friend, were able to detain the man shortly after the attack, until police arrived.
The team had earlier been celebrating at a farewell dinner for Friend, who did not have his contract renewed by Rugby Australia and will leave the team later this year.
Stannard, 35, played in a Commonwealth Games warm-up match on Thursday in Sydney. The rugby sevens programme at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Queensland state is from April 13-15.
Stannard had assumed the captaincy in the absence of the injured Holland.
"They're shocked and the team will have to show again that they are a very resilient team," Rugby Australia high performance general manager Ben Whitaker said of Stannard's absence.
