Scotland have been dealt a big blow ahead of Sunday’s clash with the Springboks at Murrayfield as their try scoring hero from their game against Fiji has been ruled out of the fixture.
Wing Darcy Graham scored four tries in the 57-17 win that opened the Scottish campaign in the autumn Test window in the United Kingdom, but he sustained a head injury in the act of scoring the fourth.
He was replaced late in the game and on Tuesday the Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend confirmed the bad news at a media conference.
POSITIVE NEWS ON KYLE ROWE
However, the unavailability of Graham was partially balanced out by a better-than-expected recovery for Kyle Rowe, who played fullback against Fiji before leaving the field injured before halftime.
Rowe, who was very good in the recent Glasgow Warriors win over the DHL Stormers in a Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash in Stellenbosch, could be deployed on the wing as Graham’s replacement.
“Yes, it’s mixed news, so the good news is that Kyle Rowe is much better than expected (after his hamstring injury,” said Townsend.
“We literally got his scan results back in the last hour, so he has a chance for this week, so we’re not ruling him out for this week, and obviously that means we’re not ruling him out for the (rest of the autumn fixtures), which is positive.
“We all felt after the game that with a hamstring injury, it could be him missing the next few games, but no, he’s recovering well, and the scan provided positive news. Darcy, unfortunately, failed his (Head Injury Assessment) HIA2 and his HIA3, so he’ll be ruled out for this weekend.”
Toulon scrumhalf Ben White, Toulouse fullback Blair Kinghorn and Bath flyhalf Finn Russell are all available for Sunday after missing the Fiji game as it took place outside the international window.
Russell and Kinghorn are both very influential players who will further offset the loss of wing Graham, who was injured playing his first game since last year’s World Cup.
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