Bradbury given shock recall to Scotland squad
MAGNUS BRADBURY yesterday earned a surprise recall to the Scotland squad less than two weeks after being stripped of the Edinburgh captaincy for disciplinary reasons. The 22-year-old had been suspended by head coach Richard Cockerill and told to stay away from the playing squad after an incident on a night out over a month ago which resulted in the back-row forward sustaining a head injury while inebriated. The Edinburgh boss was unforgiving in his assessment of the player’s ‘embarrassing’ behaviour at the time and swiftly promoted Fraser McKenzie to skipper in his stead. However, Bradbury returned
to Cockerill’s side at the weekend and scored a last-minute try in the victory over Ospreys at Myreside. And, yesterday, he was one of three players drafted into the Scotland squad ahead of the first Test of the Autumn Series, against Samoa at Murrayfield on Saturday. Scotland assistant head coach Mike Blair insisted Bradbury’s recent travails would not be held against him. And when asked if he felt he had a strong enough character to put his woes behind him and focus properly on the Tests, the former Scotland skipper said: ‘Absolutely. You don’t lose that because you’re not captain any more. ‘You saw that in the Ospreys game. He has a lot of character. He is a no-fuss operator and can just get on with things and prove his ability. ‘For a young guy, the physical attributes he has are impressive. He will only get better with time.’ Blair also stressed that Bradbury had the same chance as everyone else in the squad of being involved in what is sure to be a trying triple-header, with New Zealand and Australia to follow after the weekend’s opener. ‘We are trying to create an environment where everybody knows they have an opportunity if they do well in training,’ he said. ‘Magnus has shown that he has leadership capabilities and has real talent, as we saw in the summer tour with Scotland. ‘Richard Cockerill has obviously seen something in him, as well, by appointing him captain in the first place. Yes, there was an incident and he has been reprimanded for that. He just needs to come back and do what he does best. ‘There is no different treatment. We still expect a lot from Magnus and he still has the respect of the players. He is here on merit and is available for selection.’ Blair also revealed that Glasgow Warriors centre Alex Dunbar, who has played 20 minutes of rugby in the past seven weeks, is fit and available to play against Samoa. Aside from Bradbury, uncapped hooker Neil Cochrane has been called up to replace Ross Ford who, as revealed in Sportsmail, is out for four months following a shoulder operation. Rory Sutherland comes in as cover at loose-head, where there is an injury crisis with the three first-choice props all out.