Watson a doubt for Six Nations opener as injuries mount in capital
EDINBURGH coach Mike Blair has revealed that Hamish Watson, who has been out of action for over a month, is now a doubt for the start of the Six Nations.
Watson sustained a head injury in Scotland’s defeat by New Zealand on 13 November, and although he has recovered well and is now doing some light training on his own, he has yet to be cleared to make a return to action.
“Hamish had his head knock,” Blair said yesterday. “He has seen the specialist [ Professor Toni Belli] down in Birmingham and we are waiting to see the scan results.
“Everything else has come through as fine, but because he has had a number [ of concussions] in a short time he has to have an enforced break. We’re not 100 per cent sure when he will be back, but he’s feeling really good and he’s doing a lot of running and weights.
“I think it’s great the care the guys are getting. It’s not so much that we’re getting more head knocks – we’re just more conscious of them and make sure guys get the right treatment.”
Asked if Watson would be back for the Six Nations, which begin for Scotland with the Calcutta Cup match at Twickenham on 4 February, Blair added: “I would have thought around that time.”
The coach is also set to be without hooker Stuart McInally in the coming weeks, adding to his worries in the position given that Adam McBurney and Dave Cherry are still on the injury list. McInally was taken off with concussion in the opening minutes of the Champions Cup win against Castres last Saturday and is set to miss both 1872 Cup games against Glasgow.
“Stuart is definitely unavailable for the next couple of weeks,” added the coach.
Tom Cruse and Patrick Harrison are set to be named as the two hookers in the squad for Friday, while Harri Morris is back- up after returning from a loan spell at London Scottish. Cherry is due back at some point over the next two weeks and McBurney is due to return in mid- January.
Duhan van der Merwe is still expected to be fit to play at Scotstoun after pulling out of the Castres game because of an ankle injury. And Blair is hopeful that Blair Kinghorn and Luke Crosbie, who were both injured against the French side, will also be available.