Rory’s in race against time for Lions tour
Rory Sutherland’s chances of making the Lions tour to South Africa this summer are hanging by a thread.
The loose-head prop is set for further scans on the shoulder injury he picked up playing for Scotland against France three weeks ago.
The 27-year-old’s form over the last 18 months has made him a genuine contender to not just make the 36-man touring party, but the Test match team for the three-game series against the World Champion Springboks.
However, that is all in doubt now as Sutherland awaits news on whether or not surgery on the injury is required.
Richard Cockerill, his head coach at Edinburgh, explained: “Rory is having more scans on his shoulder to decide whether he needs surgery, or whether it can just be rehabbed.
“First diagnosis was a lot better than it could have been, potentially, so we’re hoping now that Rory will have another scan which will show a bit more detail.
“Hopefully, he’ll be able to avoid the surgeon’s knife.”
Cockerill indicated that it will still be a race against time to be fit for the end of June.
He said: “It would still be several weeks if it was non-surgical.
“It would put him in the timeframes potentially to be in and around some of those tours, but it would be touch-and-go.”
Sutherland’s fellow Hawick man Darcy Graham is also facing a lengthy period out of action.
Cockerill explained: “Darcy has had surgery on his shoulder to repair a long-standing issue.
“That was scanned last week, and the best form of treatment – given where we are in the season – is to have surgery, which will take 12-16 weeks to recover.”
Meanwhile, the prognosis was more positive for hooker, Stuart Mcinally, who has been out of action since the start of January with a neck injury.
Cockerill said he hopes to have the former Scotland captain back in action for the 1872 Cup game in a fortnight.