Townsend faces sweat over his lengthy injury list for Six Nations
THE first two rounds of this year’s Six Nations campaign are set to be an exercise in making a virtue out of a necessity for Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend, and he will cross all his fingers and toes that at least some of the key players racing against time to be fit for the second half of the championship don’t encounter any hiccups during their rehabilitation from injury.
Townsend will name his training squad for those opening two matches of the championship away to England on February 4 and at home to Wales seven days later at lunchtime today, with Zander Fagerson, Darcy Graham, Hamish Watsons, Rory Darge, Scott Cummings and Adam Hastings among the leading lights who have been classed as either major doubts or unavailable for selection.
The Fagerson situation is particularly problematic given how central he has been to the national squad in recent seasons. The tighthead prop – who injured his hamstring in early December and was ruled out of action until February – has started 16 out of Scotland’s last 17 matches in the No. 3 jersey, and he came off the bench in the other ( against Wales during the last Six Nations).
It is quite remarkable that while Townsend has been so keen to juggle his stand- off options in recent months in search of a credible backup to Finn Russell, he has allowed his scrum to become so dependent on one individual.
The situation is complicated further by news coming out of Scotstoun yesterday about Murphy Walker, Fagerson’s Glasgow Warriors club- mate, being out of action for a period of months rather than weeks due to a bulging disc in his neck. The 23- year- old impressed off the bench in his first two
international appearances in the autumn and this Six Nations would have been an ideal opportunity to really establish himself ahead of the World Cup later in the year.
That leaves WP Nel as the likely anchor of Scotland’s scrum against the might of a giant English pack at Twickenham on 4th February. The 36- year- old has been an excellent servant to the national team since his debut back in 2015, but he is no longer the force he was in either the tight or loose during his prime.
The other options in this crucial position are Simon Berghan of
Warriors, Javan Sebastian of Scarlets or Darcy Rae of Bath – who are all playing semi- regularly for their respective clubs.
The other position where Townsend is coping with multiple injuries is at openside flanker, with Watson not having played since the autumn following multiple concussions and Darge out of action since September with a serious ankle injury. The starting back- row for Scotland’s last Test match against Argentina in late November was Jamie Ritchie at openside, Matt Fagerson at blindside and Jack
Dempsey at No. 8. As it stands, all three are available, but Townsend may be tempted to use these games as an opportunity to reward Luke Crosbie’s strong start to the season with Edinburgh. He has been one of the capital club’s most effective and consistent performers in the No. 7 jersey in recent months, and although he missed the team’s win over Castres last weekend due to a concussion he is expected to be fit again to face Saracens this coming Sunday.
Andy Christie of Saracens and Josh Bayliss of Bath could also be big beneficiaries of Watson and Darge’s injury woes.
Second- row Scott Cummings, who has been out since October with a foot injury, is the other notable absentee in the pack, although the availability and form of Jonny and Richie Gray, Grant Gilchrist and Sam Skinner means that his absence will not be as keenly felt as it would have been 18 months to two years ago.
Behind the scrum, stand- off Hastings is not going to be involved any time soon after suffering surgery injury which required surgery earlier this month, while Ross Thompson is also out of action with an ankle injury.
With Fin Smith of Northampton Saints throwing his lot in with England yesterday, Ben Healy – a recent Edinburgh recruit from Munster – could find himself joining Russell and Blair Kinghorn as the No. 10 options in the squad.
Winger Darcy Graham – who was arguably Scotland’s best performer during the Six Nations – isn’t expected back from a knee injury until mid- February.
A number of other key men have been injured recently but seem to be as doubtful for Six Nations availability. Full- back and former captain Stuart Hogg sat out Exeter Chiefs’ loss to the Bulls on Saturday with a bruised heel while winger Duhan van der Merwe has an ankle issue, but both hope to be back in action within the next fortnight.