'Freakish': Scotland in Sione Tuipulotu Six Nations injury sweat as fears grow over captain's availability

The Glasgow Warriors centre has been in outstanding form for club and country this season and skippered the national side to wins over Fiji and Australia in the autumn.

However, Tuipulotu hurt his upper body during training with Glasgow this week and will now be assessed by the Scotland medics.

Franco Smith, the Warriors head coach, confirmed Tuipulotu had damaged a pectoral muscle in what was a “freakish” incident.

“He had an assessment this morning”, said Smith after Glasgow’s 24-7 defeat by Harlequins in the Investec Champions Cup at the Twickenham Stoop. “I don’t know the extent of it yet – I know that the feedback around the player will be given tonight and tomorrow. As we have been involved down here, I haven’t heard the final assessment yet.

“I think he might have injured his pec. It was a freakish injury. It was just something that happened. We weren’t suspicious about it, we just wanted to make sure it was nothing serious. But we will have more clarity tomorrow [Sunday].”

Tuipulotu now faces a race against time to be fit for Scotland’s opening match of the Six Nations, against Italy at Murrayfield on February 1, and perhaps beyond.

Gregor Townsend’s side host Ireland in round 2 on February 9, then play England at Twickenham on February 22, Wales at Murrayfield on March 1 and France in Paris on March 8.

Tuipulotu, 27, has been capped 30 times by Scotland and has developed into one of their most influential players on and off the pitch. Smith admitted he would be a big loss if the injury does sideline him.

“It is not just the player but as a person as well in our environment,” said the coach. “He brings a lot of confidence to people around him. I am sure it will be a loss for everyone if that is the case, but I can still hope there is enough of the season left that he can still contribute. So we hope it is not serious.”

There was further concern for Glasgow and Scotland when Scott Cummings had to go off after nine minutes of the Quins game. The second-row forward went to hospital after the match for an X-ray along with hooker Gregor Hiddleston who appeared to hurt his ankle in the second half.

“Scott Cummings and Gregor Hiddleston have shot off to the hospital to see if they can get some x-rays and scans done tonight, so hopefully tomorrow we'll get some better idea of exactly what has happened,” added Smith. “We hope and pray that it is not that serious."

The defeat by Harlequins does not impact too much on Glasgow who had already booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions Cup. They will finish second in Pool 4, behind Toulon, and will have a home tie next. The identity of their last-16 opponents will be known on Sunday.

Smith blamed his side’s lack of accuracy in attack for the loss to Quins.

"We knew we had to be on it from the start and we weren't. We turned over the ball with the first carry from the restart and that became a trend. We ended up defending a lot because we were inaccurate in attack. We lost the first line-out in attack, so we were architects of our own demise.”