Scotland Six Nations injury latest as Townsend confirms next two in line and addresses Vaughan exit

Both Dave Cherry and Ewan Ashman sat out their clubs’ respective matches on Friday and will be assessed this week before Townsend considers bringing in reinforcements.

George Turner, the third hooker in the Scotland squad, was also inactive over the weekend, playing no part in Harlequins’ home defeat by Leicester.

Townsend is confident both Cherry and Ashman will be available to face the Italians but he may look to bolster his hooking options this week, even just to help with training. Edinburgh’s Harri Morris and Glasgow Warriors’ Gregor Hiddleston would be next in line for a call-up. Both are currently part of the Scotland A squad.

Cherry, 35, was a surprise inclusion in Townsend’s Six Nations selection. He has not played for the national side since last year’s championship and moved clubs in the summer, leaving Edinburgh to join Vannes in the French second tier. Townsend has been impressed by his form in Pro D2, with the Brittany club seven points clear at the top of the table, but Cherry missed Friday’s away win over Grenoble.

Positive reports from France

“He had a little calf strain,” said the Scotland coach. “He’s had a scan and nothing came out of it. I think he's going to have further investigation today [Monday], but he's confident he'll be okay.

“We don't train on a Monday. Everybody reported in on Sunday night, including Dave. I do think it was more precautionary from Vannes.

“I actually got a message from their forwards coach, Jeremy Davidson, who is an ex-teammate of mine, who feels that Dave will be alright. Dave said the same thing. Jeremy was very positive about how Dave's been going. I was chatting to the medics on Sunday night, and they were hoping he'd still be able to train this week.”

Ashman, 25, suffered a neck spasm during the first half of Edinburgh’s heavy defeat by Bath in the Champions Cup and was not risked in their next game, against the Bulls on Friday.

“He had a couple of scans last week, with no issues [identified],” said Townsend. “I think he was 50-50 to play in the [Bulls] game, but he'll be someone we can manage this week. We don't have any concerns after this week, but we might have to do something different with our training numbers this week.

“It's obviously important we get the preparation right. We'll know more tonight about both those players, whether they can train on Tuesday or Wednesday.

“I thought Harri Morris was outstanding for Edinburgh at the weekend. And likewise Gregor [Hiddleston] continued his form with Glasgow. Those two players are in the A squad, and who we'd look at if we need to bring [people] in.”

Jamie Dobie update

The uncapped Hiddleston was tipped by many to be part of the main squad after an excellent first half of the season which continued with a try double in Glasgow’s narrow win over Zebre on Saturday night.

Townsend is also confident scrum-half/wing Jamie Dobie will be fit for the Italy game despite a bursa on his knee. “He had it in November and he played with it,” said the coach. “His knee was swollen up. It just flared up again a week ago. So again, we don't think it'll be an issue for next week. It's just whether we can see if he can train this week.”

Scotland have been fast starters in the Six Nations in recent years and you have to go back to Ireland away in 2020 for the last time they lost their opening match. It’s a trend Townsend would obviously like to see continue but he is under no illusion about the task facing his side at the Stadio Olimpico.

Scotland lost there during the 2024 Six Nations and Italy go into this year’s championship on the back of an impressive autumn campaign during which they defeated Australia and ran South Africa close.

Scotland are fast starters

“They're a quality team,” said Townsend. “They're hard to break down defensively and physically. Even if you watch Glasgow against Zebre at the weekend, it shows you how tough they are to play - both Italian teams. And then you've got players that are playing in top clubs in Europe. Two of them playing at Toulon right now [stand-off Paolo Garbisi and centre Juan Ignacio Brex], others playing for Northampton [prop Danilo Fischetti and winger Edoardo Todaro] and Saracens [prop Marco Riccioni].

“They've grown up playing together too. I think the 40-50 caps’ worth of collective experience. But we have to focus on our game. You only get four or five training sessions. We're not able to do as much this week as other teams. We can't keep a whole squad of 40 like all the other teams do. But the important thing in the next two days and next week is we get our game in place.”

When Vaughan will be gone

Townsend said no replacement had yet been appointed to replace Gavin Vaughan, the national team’s performance analyst, who will leave at the end of the tournament to join Newcastle Red Bulls.

“He's not gone yet,” said Townsend. “He's going to be here the whole Six Nations. I think it's important that Gav is part of a successful Six Nations squad. He's been someone that I've worked with very closely for a number of years. People move on. They get more opportunities.”

Townsend appeared to distance himself from Vaughan’s move despite the head coach now combining his Scotland job with a new role as Red Bull’s strategic advisor on rugby strategy.

“[Newcastle] told me that they've interviewed two or three people. One was a clear candidate. Then it was [up to] Gav to deal with Scottish Rugby. If someone wants to go for another job, then you wish them all the best.”