Bristol scrum-half and Scottish international Graeme Beveridge has left the club by mutual consent.

Beveridge, 33, joined Bristol from Glasgow Warriors in 2007 and scored one try in 23 appearances for the club.

But his opportunities this season have been limited.

And a club statement said: “It was mutually agreed to end Graeme’s contract early and allow him to leave the club as a free agent with a view to pursuing his career elsewhere.”

It added: “The scrum-half position at Bristol has been hotly contested with the presence of Shaun Perry, Haydn Thomas and Sam Alford.

“As a result, first-team opportunities have been hard to come by.”

England scrum-half Shaun Perry is a doubt for the start of the Six Nations after suffering a freak injury playing for his club Bristol on Sunday.
 
The 29-year-old has had surgery to repair a fractured cartilage in his windpipe after taking a boot to the throat in the win over Harlequins.

Bristol believe that Perry, a member of England’s World Cup squad, is likely to be out for “weeks, not months”.

“I feel for Shaun, he has been superb for us,” said head coach Richard Hill.

The injury will hinder Perry’s chances of being included in the squad for England’s Six Nations campaign, which starts against Wales at Twickenham on 2 February.

The former welder went to the World Cup in France as first-choice scrum-half but lost his place in the match-day 22 after being substituted at half-time of the 36-0 defeat by South Africa in the pool stages.

Perry, who joined Bristol from Coventry in 2005, finished Sunday’s game after receiving treatment on the pitch but continued to feel discomfort in his throat.

After the match, Bristol’s medical team diagnosed it was the same injury that team-mate Nathan Budgett picked up in the game against Cardiff last month.

“When Budge (Nathan Budgett) suffered his injury, none of us had even seen an injury of this type before,” added Hill. “For a second player to get injured in the same way barely a month later beggars belief.

“Shaun returned from the World Cup and got straight back to work with Bristol. He has embraced his role as a senior player and I’ve had no hesitation naming him captain in Matt Salter’s absence.”

Bristol will not set a time-frame for Perry’s likely return until a full assessment of the injury can be made.

It is the latest blow to have hit the Bristol squad in the wake of the Harlequins match.

England hopeful Dan Ward-Smith fractured his hand, while David Blaney was stretchered off in injury time with a suspected broken ankle.

Dan Ward-Smith could again miss out on a place in England’s Six Nations squad after suffering a broken hand on club duty for Bristol on Sunday.

The number eight was forced off in their Heineken Cup win over Harlequins and could be out for two months.

“If it is a clean break, he is likely to be out for six weeks but if it’s splintered, it could be eight weeks,” said Bristol coach Richard Hill.

England open up their Six Nations campaign against Wales on 2 February.

In a further setback for Bristol, England World Cup hooker Mark Regan picked up a shoulder injury in the same game.

Regan was substituted just after half time and was replaced by try-scorer David Blaney, who was himself stretchered off in injury time with a suspected broken ankle.

It is the second season running that Ward-Smith has suffered an injury setback in the build-up to the Six Nations.

Earlier this year, the 29-year-old suffered a dislocated kneecap and a ruptured patella playing for his club against Northampton when an England call-up beckoned.

He had recovered enough to work with England’s World Cup training squad in the summer but failed to prove he had reached the required fitness level to be included in the final party that travelled to France.

Ward-Smith missed Bristol’s opening game of the season against Leicester but returned to the team for the clash with Sale on 23 September.

“It’s very unlucky for him,” added Hill. “Last year, before he was badly injured, he was out for six weeks with a thumb problem.”

First-half tries from Lee Robinson and Andrew Blowers helped secure an 18-11 EDF Energy Cup victory for Bristol over the Scarlets, at the Memorial Stadium.

Richard Hill’s side led 15-3 at the break, with David Hill adding a penalty and a conversion for Bristol.

The Scarlets mounted a fightback in the second half but Bristol defended well against relentless pressure.

But the Welsh side did earn a losing bonus point courtesy of Morgan Stoddart’s injury-time try.

It was the Scarlets who got the first points of the afternoon, with young outside-half Rhys Priestland sending over a penalty after Bristol had been caught offside.

But just a few minutes later his opposite number Hill cancelled that out to get the home side on the board.

The Welsh side then took the game by the scruff of the neck and that pressure almost resulted in the first try of the game.

But hooker Matthew Rees had his try ruled out by the television match official and moments later Priestland missed with his second penalty.

Bristol made the Scarlets pay, wing Robinson came close to going over in the corner but like Rees, had a foot in touch as he went for the try-line.

He made no mistake a few moments later though as Bristol took the lead.

Great work from the home pack saw a five-yard scrum turned over and a combination of quick hands and accurate passing from the Bristol three-quarters saw Robinson go over in the corner.

Hill missed the kick but made no mistake a few minutes later, converting Blowers’ try.

Just before the break the Scarlets looked to have got back into the game but Bristol centre Rob Higgitt superbly tackled Matthew J Watkins with the try line at his mercy.

The Scarlets brought on Wales outside-half Stephen Jones after half-time and he had an immediate impact, sending over an early penalty to reduce the deficit.

But Hill restored the 12-point lead a few minutes later with his second penalty of the game.

As the game wore on the Scarlets continued to press but lacked the killer instinct to break down their hosts.

The penalty count against Bristol increased as the Scarlets pressure grew and eventually referee Tim Hayes lost his patience and Maori centre Neil Brew was the unlucky man to be sent to the bin.

It gave the Scarlets a man advantage but they failed to capitalise as they continued to break down a resilient Bristol defence.

With the game lost, they did manage a losing bonus point courtesy of Stoddart’s injury-time try.

Bristol: T. Arscott; Robinson, Brew, Higgitt, Morgan; Hill, Perry; Clarke, Blaney, Crompton, Llewellyn, Hohneck, Budgett, El Abd, Blowers.
Replacements: Hogan for Clarke (66), Linklater for Blaney (59).
Not Used: Attwood, Phillips, Thomas, Strange, Eves. Sin Bin: Brew (65).

Llanelli Scarlets: Stoddart; M. Jones, King, G. Evans, Watkins; Priestlend, Peel; John, Hayter, Manu, Cooper, Eustace, Easterby, Edwards, D. Jones.
Replacements: James for Watkins (40), S. Jones for Priestlend (40), Douglas for John (51), Rees for Hayter (40), MacLeod for Eustace (51), Popham for Edwards (51).
Not Used: L. Davies.

The Rugby Football Union has fined Bristol £20,000 after finding them guilty of “conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game”.

Bristol have also been given a formal warning as to their future conduct after being accused of making illegal approaches to other clubs’ players.

The Premiership club are alleged to have tried to sign fly-half Ed Barnes and wing Tom Arscott from Plymouth.

The RFU will give £15,000 of the fine to Plymouth as compensation.

Under RFU rules, players with more than 90 days to run on their contract cannot be approached by new clubs.