Flanker Jamie Ritchie is set to miss Scotland’s World Cup opener according to head coach Gregor Townsend.
The Edinburgh was a late arrival into the Dark Blues’ training camp in Nagasaki a week after suffering a broken cheekbone in Murrayfield against Georgia.
He underwent surgery to have a titanium plate along with Townsend admits he is not likely to be fit for the battle against Joe Schmidt’s planet No side next Sunday.
The club-mate Magnus Bradbury, who had been known as a of ritchie, remains in Japan for today.
Townsend, talking at his official launching press conference before the championship, said:”Jamie had surgery on Monday so he joined us Thursday. He’s still recovering from jet lag as well as the operation, and he is not working with us yet.
“We anticipate him to resume training next week. He’s unlikely to be available for the Ireland game but he’ll soon be back in full training after that.
“It turned out to be a fractured cheekbone that Jamie endured. So it’s quite a regular surgery for players that suffer that sort of 24, he’s got a ceramic plate in there today.
“We think two-to-three week turn around could be done fairly easily. We know some players can come back in much less time than that but we are likely to aim for the Samoa game instead of Ireland.”
Townsend was abandoned sweating on the fitness of five players from the Dark Blues’ send-off showdown after that victory over Georgia.
Ritchie was the problem however there were also worries following Blair Kinghorn and Ben Toolis both suffered head knocks, while forward Blade Thomson along with Jonny Gray limped away with hamstring complaints.
There was additional anxiety when prop Allan Dell afterwards reported that a twinge of his own however Townsend admits he is relieved that his casualties all are now set to play a role in the championship.
He explained:”The pleasing thing is everyone remains in the group, which is a massive boost.
“The very last press conference we’d (the injuries) were at the front of my thoughts because we ended up with six accidents (against Georgia).
“We had four players that went into hospital that evening and two that had to be eliminated because of head injuries.
“However, all of them are available to perform in the World Cup. Jamie won’t probably be fit for the game but the rest are all be available for selection this week”
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