Skinner's Cup hopes in doubt
By Mark Stevens
24/8/19
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has admitted that there is serious cause for concern that Sam Skinner might be ruled out of the World Cup due to a hamstring injury suffered during his side's gritty victory over France at BT Murrayfield.
The Exeter Chiefs forward is a near certainty to travel to Japan next month if fit, with his versatility as a second-row who can slot seamlessly into the back-row a huge selling point as Townsend tries to get the maximum utility out of his 31-man squad.
However, the 24-year-old forward is one of three injury-concerns for Townsend after this bruising tussle, with winger Tommy Seymour and debutant Blade Thomson both picking up head knocks.
“It is always disappointing when you see someone getting injured and it may mean that they miss the World Cup,” said Townsend. “Out the three, Sam looks to be more of a serious injury. He’ll get scanned tonight and we’ll know more about him later tonight, so fingers crossed for all three players.”
While this was not a vintage performance from Scotland, who also included Chiefs newcomer Stuart Hogg at full-back, there was more positives to take out of it than negatives given that the team found a way to win after a disastrous start when they lost a try within two minutes of kick-off.
France scored again in the 26th minute to stretch into a 14-3 lead, but Scotland struck back just before the break with a try from Saracens winger Sean Maitland, before snatching the lead which they did not relinquish through a Chris Harris try in the second-half.
“Performance-wise, I wouldn’t know what to rank it,” said Townsend. “I felt in the first 20 minutes we were on our game and that wasn’t getting shown on the scoreboard because a couple of times France scored off our possession. But I just felt that with the bite in the tackles, the speed of ball we were getting and where we were attacking France, it looked like us out there.
“It wasn’t the perfect performance – clearly not – but what I found really satisfying was how the players found a way to win. Against that early scoreboard, against a team that had beaten them comfortably a week ago, against multiple changes in rhythm with a lot of stoppages and the injuries – having to put John Barclay and Ryan Wilson in the second-row, and George Turner at flanker – what the players did today was excellent. But we know that our performance will have to improve a lot over the next few weeks.”
“[But] it certainly helps with momentum fighting and finding a way to win ahead of going onto a very tough challenge next week.”
All eyes now turn to Tbilisi and the third of Scotland’s four warm-up matches against Georgia next Saturday. The final World Cup squad will be named the following Tuesday, before Georgia once again provide the opposition in the final pre-tournament hit-out at Murrayfield on Friday 6th September.
“We’ll look to pick as strong a possible team either next week or the following week, and that will depend on how players recover from this weekend,” said Townsend.
“I would think the two head injuries will not be involved next week because of the risk of not getting through your protocols and getting ready in time when we’ve got a six-hour flight on Wednesday. And I can confidently say that I don’t think Sam Skinner will turn it around in two days – we’ll have to announce our team to the players on Tuesday because we fly first thing on Wednesday. So, those three most probably won’t be involved.
“But the goal is to go to Georgia with a strong side and we’ll have to because going to Georgia will be one of the toughest challenges this team has faced, just in terms of the context of Georgia wanting to get in the Six Nations, being a very good side, playing at home, the travel to get out there, 50,000 people behind them …
“So, it is a tough game for us but one that we relish. We know we’ve got to improve our away record and we’ve got a chance to do that next week.
“It is a great challenge for us to go into as we look ahead to playing Ireland on September 22 and the host nation Japan in October.”