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.”