Maitland may be out of Six Nations after breach

SCOTLAND head coach Gregor Townsend would not be drawn last night on whether Sean Maitland’s involvement in next weekend’s Six Nations clash is in doubt after the winger was one of 12 Barbarians players who broke Covid protocols on Wednesday night by going out for dinner rather than staying in the team hotel, causing Sunday’s clash against England to be cancelled.

“We won’t select a squad until the rest of the weekend is over,” he said. “We have players playing at other clubs on Saturday and Sunday so no decision has been made.

“I only heard about the Barbarians [ situation] just before we boarded the bus to the game so I’ve not had time to digest it but it is obviously a disappointment that a game was called off due to the actions of players. That’s all I can say as I don’t know much about it.”

Townsend was speaking after watching his team’s comprehensive 48- 7 dismantling of Georgia in their opening match of this Autumn Test series.

“It was certainly a strong hitout for our forwards,” he observed. “The ball was slippy and there were errors from both teams and we didn’t get a lot of fluency in our attack, but the forward performance was excellent. I was really pleased with the scrum, maul attack and maul defence.

“The players know they have been in a tough, physical game which is excellent preparation for the step- up next week.”

The match also witnessed Finn Russell’s return to the international fold for the first time since his public spat with Townsend back in January. The stand- off came off the bench with around half an hour to go and played with his usual expansiveness.

“He played well I thought his passing was outstanding,” acknowledged Townsend. “He had two or three really quick passes to give us width.”