Taylor out for the season and in a race to make the World Cup
SCOTLAND centre Duncan Taylor is in a race against time to be fit for next year’s World Cup after undergoing knee surgery that will keep him out for the rest of the season. Taylor, who can also play on the wing or at full-back, damaged both the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments in his left knee during Saracens’ Premiership Shield match against Northampton at the start of the month. Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall described the surgery as ‘successful’ but revealed that Taylor would not play again until June. That means the only way he will be able to stake a claim for Scotland’s World Cup squad would be to impress Gregor Townsend in the four warm-up matches — home and away against France and the same versus Georgia — in August. It is the latest injury setback for Taylor, who has had two ankle operations and serious hamstring and shoulder problems over the past three years. He was sidelined for most of last season with concussion symptoms, which meant he did not feature for Scotland in the autumn internationals or the Six Nations and made just six appearances for Saracens. The 21-times capped centre did tour with Scotland in the USA and Canada in the summer but was deemed not fit enough to play because of an ankle problem. His last cap was against Fiji in June 2017. ‘He has obviously had a poor year injury-wise and it’s cruel what has happened to one of the most popular players in the squad,’ said McCall. ‘It is just one of those things. We simply need to support him as best we can. ‘He has done his ACL and his PCL. He did everything really. ‘On Tuesday he got operated on and, all things being equal, he will be back in June.’ It represents the latest injury misfortune for a Scotland centre. Edinburgh’s Mark Bennett will not play again until the New Year after rupturing his hamstring in the narrow loss to Ulster last weekend.