Gregor Townsend’s side stunned England to win back the Calcutta Cup but have suffered three setbacks in the process
Townsend will be without three players for the trip to Wales
Scotland have been hit by a triple injury blow ahead of their Six Nations clash with Wales this weekend with three players sidelined in the wake of their Calcutta Cup victory.
Having been widely written off in the build-up, Gregor Townsend’s side pulled off a surprise win over England on Saturday, with a Huw Jones brace and tries from Jamie Ritchie and Ben White seeing them emerge 31-20 victors at Murrayfield. But while his side claimed back the bragging rights, Townsend will be without three stars for their visit to Cardiff this weekend.
Ritchie, fellow back-rower Jack Dempsey and wing Jamie Dobie all suffered injuries against England and Scotland confirmed on Tuesday morning that the trio have now returned to their clubs for further assessment.
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After scoring Scotland’s second try on Saturday, Perpignan star Ritchie was forced off at half-time with a leg injury, with French local newspaper L’Independant reporting that he suffered a tibial plateu fracture.
The reported injury is a serious break in the top of the shin bone extending into the knee joint, and is expected to keep him out of action for two to three months, according to the news outlet.
Scotland have confirmed that Ritchie has suffered a knee injury, but have not revealed the precise nature of it nor the length of time he is expected to be sidelined for. Meanwhile, Dempsey has suffered a bicep injury while Dobie has injured his shoulder.
Speaking after his side’s Calcutta Cup win, Townsend admitted that the trio appeared to have sustained “pretty serious injuries” with “a different team” set to take to the field against Wales this weekend.
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“I think they’re all pretty serious injuries,” said the Scotland head coach. “I don’t usually say that. Let’s wait and see.
“I think both Jack and Jamie Ritchie looked serious. Jamie Dobie was a bit more positive in the changing room. It’s the third Test match in a row coming up. It would take a lot to turn around to be available for training this weekend.
“We knew that coming into these three games. We have a strong squad,” he added. “We had an A game last week. Players have played a lot of rugby. Other players that weren’t involved in the A game have trained with us. I’m sure there’ll be a different team next weekend.
“Jack has a bicep injury. There’s been a few of them this season from a number of teams. You can pretty much diagnose quite quickly that it’s serious. We don’t yet know.
“Jamie Ritchie was a knee, a hyperextended knee. Let’s hope it’s just the extension and the mechanism that gave everybody a fright. Let’s hope there’s no ligament tears.”
On Dobie, Townsend continued: “Let’s hope that’s not too serious. I thought, what a performance from him today. I think I’ve already mentioned that defensively, he had an absolutely amazing tackle to close down an England attack.”
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