Ry blow and doubts over Glasgow duo leave boss Towny in a sweat
SCOTLAND back-row forward Ryan Wilson has been ruled out of the rest of the Six Nations Championship with a knee injury that ended his involvement in Saturday’s defeat by Ireland at half-time.
The Glasgow Warriors co-captain is returning to his club where the medical team will assess and treat the ligament damage he has suffered.
Fellow Warriors Stuart Hogg (shoulder) and Huw Jones (knee) also suffered ligament injuries in the match, but remain with the national squad and they will both be assessed by a specialist this week who will help them plan their re-hab.
Wilson’s injury places further demands on back-row resources that have been stretched by, in particular, injuries to John Barclay and his Edinburgh colleague Hamish Watson, who broke his hand during the club’s victory in their Champions Cup pool decider against Montpellier in January.
Edinburgh’s head coach Richard Cockerill reported yesterday that Watson would definitely remain sidelined when Scotland face France in Paris next week, but his outlook was more optimistic.
“He’s still recovering. It’s just a matter of time, probably two or three weeks yet. They may get him in for the last two, we will see,” he said. “We might get him to play for in the last two. The back-row injuries are starting to mount up for Scotland, aren’t they?”
Barclay is clearly not going to be available to improve that situation in the course of this campaign either since Cockerill remains unclear when he will be ready to return to action, indicating that reports that he was set to return to action next month may be premature.
“That is a little optimistic but we will see,” he said. “As soon as he is fit and ready to go he will come back into the squad. At this point, as he has just started running yesterday, it is hard to say exact dates. He’s making progress.”
However, Edinburgh could contribute to the national cause this weekend if they can get another international back-row man back into action, with Magnus Bradbury poised to return after another lengthy lay-off. due to a dislocated shoulder.
“It’s been four months for him. He has worked hard to get back. He’ll get good minutes at the weekend and we’ll see if Scotland come calling,” said Cockerill.
Edinburgh have had significant issues of their own in the same department since Luke Hamilton and Lewis Carmichael, like centre Matt Scott, have been unavailable because they have not been cleared under the return to play protocols for head knocks.
“It is a very on-topic injury and we don’t know enough about it and if guys are still having symptoms around headaches you need to measure what’s wrong,” said Cockerill.
Another of their colleagues, Lewis Carmichael, has meanwhile suffered a major knee problem with Cockerill reporting that he: “had an accident at training three or four weeks ago and tore his ACL so he is out for the season. He has had surgery. That is his season finished.”
He believes that after a couple of weeks to re-group since their dramatic defeat at the Southern Kings in their last Pro14 outing three weekends ago and with Luke Crosbie having recovered from breaking his jaw in November, they are better placed.
“Bill Mata is available, Magnus will come into the 23 so that adds strength to us,” he said.