Scotland issue 'devastating' Six Nations injury update as call made for new stars to be born

All three made sizeable contributions to the stunning 31-20 win at Murrayfield which reinvigorated Gregor Townsend’s side’s championship challenge.

The players have returned to their clubs for treatment and are unlikely to recover in time to play a part in Scotland’s last three games.

The squad are currently at a training camp in Spain and will fly to Cardiff at the end of the week for Saturday’s round three clash with Wales. There is then a break before the campaign ends with matches against France at Murrayfield and Ireland in Dublin on March 7 and 14.

It’s a brutal game...

Asked if Dempsey, Ritchie and Dobie were out for the tournament, Scotland assistant coach Pete Horne said: “It's looking that way, which is unfortunate. They've all gone back to their clubs, they'll be assessed there and if there is an outside chance of them getting back involved, then great, they'll link back up with us in the last week or so. But I can't see it, to be honest.

“It’s a brutal game, Test match rugby. It's so physical now, the collisions, the size of these boys, the physicality that's involved. Demmo [Dempsey] actually summed it up really well in the first week. He was talking about how everyone around the table has got to be ready to go at a moment's notice because there's going to be injuries. It's sod's law for the poor bugger that he was one of them.”

Dempsey, the Glasgow Warriors and Scotland No 8, injured his bicep in the Calcutta Cup game, while Perpignan flanker Ritchie sustained a knee injury and Glasgow winger Dobie hurt his shoulder. Reports in the French media suggest that Ritchie could be out for two to three months.

Gregor Townsend has no immediate plans to add more players to their squad even though they have lost two of the three back-row starters from the England game. It is the area of the team where they have most cover and, in addition to Rory Darge, who started at seven at the weekend, and Matt Fagerson, who came off the bench, Scotland have Gregor Brown, Josh Bayliss, Freddy Douglas and Magnus Bradbury in their squad. Brown played at lock against England but has also played regularly in the back row.

There is cover on the wing in the form of Duhan van der Merwe, Darcy Graham, Kyle Rowe and Blair Kinghorn.

New stars can be born

“It's an opportunity for three other guys to step up now,” said Horne. “And thankfully, we have got a little bit more depth in the squad now than in some of the years gone by. It's devastating to lose them, three guys in top form who were outstanding at the weekend and have been a big part of the group, both on and off the field. But that's how new stars are born, isn't it? So someone else has now got the chance to play their part in the story.”

“We're fairly happy with the group we've got,” added Horne. “We've got cover there. There's plenty of other guys that are ready, who are frothing for the opportunity to step in and be the guy to fill that jersey. So I can't see us adding anyone this week.”

Kinghorn flew in to join the squad from France after helping Toulouse beat Stade Francais in Paris on Sunday evening. He was released back to his club after being deemed surplus to requirements for the England game. Kinghorn had been Scotland’s first choice full-back leading up to the Six Nations but has lost his place to Tom Jordan.

“He arrived yesterday, so he trained today with us, and yeah, he's in good spirits,” said Horne. “Blair's an extremely talented player. The competition's obviously been really high in that area. The [back] three guys that got the opportunity against Italy, we felt like they went well in that game and against England they obviously performed really well again.

“There will be an opportunity for someone with Jamie [Dobie] dropping out; there will be a bit of a shuffle in the back three somewhere. We'll just assess how training goes tomorrow and make a call.”

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