Doug Howlett has been ruled out of the Commonwealth Games Sevens teamwith a hamstring injury, replaced by the previously injured Amasio Valence.

Howlett apparently injured his hamstring against the Crusaders last weekend. He did leave the field, but reappeared late in the game for another injured player.

He had an MRI scan on the problem yesterday, a day after Amasio Valence had his fitness test to confirm his availability.

Doug Howlett cannot train fully for the next seven to 10 days, which means Melbourne is out of the question.

The other interesting twist is that just last Friday Amasio Valence was ruled out of the Games with a knee injury. Now four days later he is back in and fit to play.