Swinson in as cover
World Cup KO for Skinner as injury rules him out
Injury: Sam Skinner (pic: SNS Group)
Scotland’s friendly win over France at the weekend has come at a cost with lock Sam Skinner ruled out of the World Cup.
The Exeter Chiefs star limped out of the Murrayfield clash with a hamstring problem and head coach Gregor Townsend’s worst fears were realised after hospital scans.
Confirming the news, a statement from Scottish Rugby said: “Skinner had the muscle scanned at Spire Murrayfield Hospital on the evening of the match, with the time taken to recover deemed insufficient to play a meaningful part in Scotland’s Rugby World Cup 2019 campaign.”
With the 24-year-old sidelined, Glasgow Warriors forward Tim Swinson has been invited to train with Scotland’s wider squad.
Swinson, preferred to former British and Irish Lion Richie Gray who declined the call-up opportunity for personal reasons, earned the most recent of his 38 Scotland caps in the 2018 win over Argentina in Resistencia.
Townsend names his final squad on 3 September, with Scotland’s opening game in the World Cup against Ireland on 22 September.
The Scots rebounded from a heavy loss to France in Nice with the 17-14 victory on Saturday and continue their preparations for Japan with back-to-back matches against Georgia.
The first game takes place in Tblisi on Saturday, with Murrayfield hosting the second one on Friday, 6 September.
“We’re the first tier-one nation to go over there and their crowd will be right behind them,” said Edinburgh’s Hamish Watson.
“They’re a big, physical team and we’ll have to be at our best to win that one and hopefully build confidence into the World Cup.”
