The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Glasgow pair aim to hand Scotland boost for Six Nations trip to Dublin
Scotland are set for another NatWest 6 Nations boost as Gregor Townsend’s front-row injury crisis begins to clear.
The Scots are still in party mood after Saturday’s historic Calcutta Cup victory over England and now Townsend is celebrating the news that hooker Fraser Brown and prop Zander Fagerson could step up their comebacks for Glasgow this weekend.
The Scotland head coach started the tournament without six of his firstchoice front-rowers.
A troubling head injury has kept Brown out of the opening three rounds while Fagerson has made just one substitute appearance for Warriors since injuring his foot last month.
But both players are now hoping to start for the Scotstoun side against Ulster in Belfast in Friday night’s Guinness PRO14 showdown, with a recall to Townsend’s squad for next week’s trip to Dublin still a possibility.
Glasgow assistant coach Kenny Murray said: “Fraser didn’t play last week but has trained fully this week. Hopefully he should be in contention for Ulster.
“He did well last weekend in his first game back against Munster and has had two good days’ training this week so all is looking good.
“It will be up to Gregor if he rejoins with the national team. We’ll just have to see how he gets on this weekend. But he’s obviously a quality player and I’m sure he will be in Gregor’s plans.
“Obviously the guys who played on Saturday will be disappointed if they are not involved next week, I’d imagine, but Zander will be there or thereabout I’m sure. It may come down to how he plays this weekend.”
However Murray warned F ag er son he might have a fight on his hands to reclaim his international slot.
He said: “A lot of the chat has been about Scotland not having a lot of cover in the front row but obviously with WP Nel coming back against England and now Zander back too, the picture in the props is a lot brighter.
“But the big stand-out for me from Saturday was Simon Berghan. I thought he did really well at the weekend, so the guys coming back need to find a way into the team.”
Ireland have suffered a blow with Munster star Chris Farrell expected to miss the rest of the Six Nations after suffering knee trouble in training.