Gregor Townsend has expressed hope that Greig Laidlaw will be fit for the start of next season’s Six nations Championship, while he is expecting John Barclay, the man who replaced the scrum-half as Scotland captain during last season’s tournament, to be back playing ahead of the forthcoming autumn Tests.
Scotland’s head coach watched the European Champions Cup tie between Laidlaw’s Clermont Auvergne and the Ospreys, but did not immediately realise there was a major problem.
“On Monday we weren’t aware of the severity of his injury and were hoping it wasn’t too bad,” said Townsend. “I was watching the game and I didn’t realise he was injured. Then we were hopeful he wasn’t going to miss the November tests but unfortunately he’s going to be out for three months.”
He noted that the 32-year-old has already proved his ability to bounce back effectively from such injuries, suggesting that a Six Nations comeback is achievable.
“He recovered pretty well from his last ankle injury and went on a Lions’ tour so hopefully he’ll make the same recovery,” said Townsend. “It will be close but if his recovery goes well he should be available for the start of the tournament.”
It had looked as if Laidlaw’s unavailability might force Townsend to look for a new team captain because Barclay has been struggling to recover from a head injury, but the latest updates on the Scarlets flanker are more encouraging.
“Things are looking better for John, he saw a specialist at the beginning of the week. He is back training now and feeling a lot better so he should be back playing soon,” he added.
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