Gregor Townsend’s elation and relief at the end of Scotland’s gritty victory in Wales was tempered by the realisation that he may be without his first and second choice stand-offs when his team’s Autumn Test schedule resumes against Italy away in just under two weeks’ time.
Finn Russell injured his groin after half-an-hour of yesterday’s match, and Adam Hastings went off with a damaged shoulder with only 10 minutes to go, meaning skipper Stuart Hogg had to move from full-back to stand-off during the tense finale.
“They’re sitting in the changing room fine,” said Townsend. “Finn is in more pain than Adam. He was involved in a tackle and his leg just went to the side. He felt something go in his groin/adductor. It’s similar to what Grant Gilchrist did over in Munster with Edinburgh, and a couple of days later he thought he would be okay but that wasn’t the case – he’s had to have surgery [and has been ruled out of action for the remainder of the Autumn].
“Adam popped – subluxed is the technical term – his shoulder twice in the second half. The first went back in quite quickly and he carried on, but the second one he had to be removed from the field of play. Hopefully it won’t keep him out too long.
“We’ve got a week off to reflect on that and see where Finn and Adam are. We’re hoping their injuries aren’t serious but it does look quite bad just now.”
If both players are ruled out for the Autumn Nations Cup which runs over four weekends from November 14 to December 5, Townsend does have options at 10.
He said he decided against moving James Lang to stand-off yesterday because there was nobody on the field suited to taking over his inside centre slot, but the Harlequins man has played there regularly at club level so could be an option as a starter for Scotland.
He also suggested that Duncan Weir could come into the reckoning, while Edinburgh’s South African-born playmaker Jaco van der Walt will qualify to play for Scotland on residency grounds in time for the visit of France to Murrayfield on November 22.
“Duncan Weir has been playing really well [for Worcester Warriors] and Jaco van der Walt becomes qualified for France or Fiji,” he said.
While that was the negative from yesterday’s match, Townsend was not prepared to let concern over that detract from a moment which he and his team are entitled to savour. It was the first time Scotland have beaten Wales in Wales since 2002, and all the more satisfying for the character the team showed to get the result.
“It is great for this group to have some sort of confirmation that the hard work and progress that they are making is paying off,” said Townsend. “We had to work hard for that win which was good to see in a difficult situation with no crowds, good to see with the [difficult] wind, and good to see with the injuries we had – to see that character and power in the second half was really encouraging.”
It is a remarkable turnaround in fortunes from this time last year when Scotland had just returned home from the World Cup in Japan with their collective tails between their legs after being bumped out of the tournament at the end of the pool stage.
“We’ve had games before this Six Nations when our defence has been very good, but at times we’ve made it easy for teams both defensively and in what we have been doing in attack,” said Townsend, when asked about how the squad has moved on from that bitter experience.
“Now we stay in the fight every game and although we didn’t get the rewards in the Ireland and England game, we’ve won the last three games, and we know there is a lot more to come.”
When asked where this result ranks as a coaching highlight, he said: “With no crowd here, it’s hard to recreate that feeling you get when you beat England at home [in 2018]. Nothing will come close to matching that just now, but when you see what it means to the players to finally get that win … they’re delighted. And for the millions of Scots watching at home, it will have lifted their spirits which is great.”
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