BENNETT BACK WITH EYE ON SIX NATIONS
SCOTLAND and Glasgow Warriors were given a major lift last night after centre Mark Bennett was passed fit for Sunday’s vital European Champions Cup match against Montpellier. Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend revealed the 21-year-old had fully recovered from the hamstring injury which forced him off during the Autumn Test against New Zealand in November and was in his thoughts for the weekend. With Scotland coach Vern Cotter due to name his Six Nations squad on Tuesday, Bennett’s return to full fitness earlier than expected could not have come at a better time with the national team lacking strength in depth at centre. Provided he gets a run against the French side on Sunday, there is every chance the youngster, who won his first two caps against Argentina and the All Blacks two months ago, could play himself into contention for the opening Six Nations match against France in Paris next month. Townsend admitted Bennett was ‘in the mix’ for selection after coming through a bounce game against Scotland Under-20s earlier this week. A final decision on whether he plays will be made this morning. ‘Mark has trained fully for two weeks and we had him pencilled in for a back-up game for the beginning of this week,’ said Townsend. ‘That was always his most optimistic target to return after injury. ‘It is great that he cleared all the hurdles to be ready for that game and even better that he came through looking good. ‘He has backed it up by training again all this week without reaction. Because of that, he is in the mix for the match on Sunday.’ Townsend added: ‘It is good to have him back because, although we have a lot of competition in the backline, he was in excellent form going into the November Tests. ‘In the last Montpellier game back in October, he was one of our best players when he made a couple of excellent breaks. ‘He adds to the depth of our squad. We are playing huge games in the Champions Cup just now and we need that.