Absence of big two could open door for Healy
WHEN Gregor Townsend names his team to face Italy in Saturday’s Six Nations finale, one topic is likely to dominate the conversation.
Namely, how do Scotland compensate for the loss of two key players in Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg?
Both Russell and Hogg have been ruled out after picking up injuries in the defeat to Ireland at BT Murrayfield last Sunday.
It means Scotland will face the Azzurri without two of their most experienced operators — and two of their bona-fide superstars.
Particularly in the case of Russell, there will be plenty of intrigue around what Townsend now chooses to do at fly-half. Fans are wondering: who will be given the keys to No10?
Edinburgh’s Charlie Savala has been added to the squad, but that’s only to bulk up the numbers in training.
In terms of selection, it’s surely a straight shootout between Blair Kinghorn and Ben Healy — and Townsend has two main options he could go for.
He could select Kinghorn at fly-half, Ollie Smith at full-back, with Healy on the bench. That’s probably the safe route.
Kinghorn has been in fine form in the Six Nations and has made an excellent impact off the bench in almost every game so far, albeit whilst playing in the back three.
It would be a U-turn for Townsend to put him back in at ten, after essentially binning the whole experiment following the first game of the autumn against Australia last year.
Smith, the young Glasgow Warriors full-back, has a huge future ahead of him and should be the successor to Hogg in the long-term. Townsend actually namechecked Smith after the Ireland game.
The other option for the Scotland head coach would be to hand Healy a debut, with Kinghorn reverting to his more natural position at full-back.
It was announced back in January that Irish-born Healy is to leave Munster in the summer and join Edinburgh. You can bet your bottom dollar that a promise of Test rugby would have been a key part of sweetening the deal.
Kinghorn and Healy will, of course, be clubmates at Edinburgh next season and the smart money has the hitherto
Irishman as first-choice fly-half. Whether that automatically translates to Test level, only time till tell. But Healy would certainly be a more natural fit.
Despite failing to break into the Ireland senior squad, the 23-year-old was still rated highly and a lot of Munster fans were sorry to see him go.
Their loss should be Edinburgh’s, and perhaps Scotland’s, gain. As Sportsmail revealed back on January 5, Scotland were determined to fast-track Healy as soon as the move to Edinburgh was announced.
Healy, who qualifies through his mother’s side of the family, is understood to have impressed during his short time with the squad so far. Scotland assistant coach John Dalziel is excited about his rugby ‘intelligence’ — and revealed that, had it not been for Russell’s excellent form, Healy would already have made his debut.
‘He is very intelligent around his game,’ said Dalziel. ‘He brings a different perspective from being in the Irish system and we’ve used him as a coaching tool.
‘He has probably deserved an opportunity (before now). But where do you give him that opportunity when you’ve got France and Ireland, and Finn’s playing so well?’
After opening the Six Nations with victories over England and Wales, Scotland’s campaign has fizzled out. They will be trusted to win well against Italy, but Dalziel was keen to point out the tough nature of games against France and Ireland.
He added: ‘I don’t think there’s been a Six Nations where we’ve had the world No1 and No2 in it. To have them back-to-back, I think we’ve shown where we are as a group.
‘We’re more pleased about how we’re progressing against the likes of France and Ireland than the wins we had at the start. They’re the wins we should have been getting for the last three years.’