Rathbone cheek gets all-clear

Sydney - Brumbies wing Clyde Rathbone has been cleared by medics after a facial injury picked up in his side's 33-31 Super 14 win over the Highlanders, team officials said on Monday.

The former South African Under-21 skipper, playing his first Super 14 match in two years after being sidelined by chronic knee injuries, received 10 stitches to a cheek wound after a clash of heads midway through the first half of Friday's game.

X-rays and scans on Monday cleared the former Wallaby wing of any serious damage, officials said.

Brumbies' team doctor Warren McDonald said Rathbone sustained a laceration to his cheek and had swelling around his left eye, but he was expected to return to training later this week.

Team officials said Rathbone was expected to be available for the Brumbies' first home match of the Super 14 season against the Crusaders on Saturday.

"I was quite relieved after the game to be honest, the knee felt fine," Rathbone said on Monday.

"It was Valentine's Day, so my wife wasn't completely happy."