Recently sacked Edinburgh skipper Magnus Bradbury was brought back into the national squad yesterday but it was the simultaneous recall of his Edinburgh clubmates, Rory Sutherland and Neil Cochrane that spoke to problems at Scottish rugby HQ yesterday.

The inclusion of the pair is the latest response to what appears to be little short of a front-row crisis with Ross Ford, Scotland’s most capped player, the latest to be ruled out long term as a result of a pectoral injury suffered in training last week that will see him undergo surgery and be sidelined for four months.

Cochrane consequently provides cover at hooker while Sutherland, who has played only around 20 minutes for Edinburgh this season, will compete for a spot at loosehead with yet another clubmate Darryl Marfo and Glasgow’s Jamie Bhatti, both of whom are uncapped.

However, the management view put forward by Mike Blair, Scotland’s skills coach yesterday, was that there is no cause for concern on that front.

“It is not as if Darryl and Jamie have not been playing regular rugby,” he pointed out. “Had it been the case they were only getting the occasional sub appearances you might look at that a little closer. This is an opportunity for these guys. They have done well in games they have played. 

“They have played against good packs and come out on top. I guess what we are looking for is consistency. With international players you are looking at consistency of performance. These guys are quick learners and will adapt well to international rugby.”

The former Scotland captain’s tone was characteristically upbeat as he assessed the prospects of the next three weeks and he cited what amounts to unprecedented form as justification for that, noting that all 38 players in the squad are with clubs that won at the weekend.

On a day that saw Stuart Hogg, Scotland’s best player, admit that it was only this summer that he took on board some of the lifestyle habits to be expected of an elite professional sportsman, Blair naturally found himself fielding questions about the inclusion in a Scotland squad of Bradbury so soon after he was stripped of the Edinburgh captaincy after a disciplinary enquiry into how he got hurt during a late night incident last month. 

They came up in the context of the need to identify new leaders for the squad in the absence of veterans Ford and long-time captain Greig Laidlaw, Bradbury having been a surprise choice as Edinburgh skipper at the start of the season, but Blair expressed confidence that the 22-year-old retains the capacity to set the right tone.

“You don’t lose that because you are not captain anymore,” he asserted. “I think it is important, having been a captain myself, that the role of those other leaders round you is massively important. They take the weight off your shoulders at the right times, allowing you not to over speak. 

“As a leadership group we have that in place. There will be guys outside the leadership group that have a massive role to play. Everybody has a role in leadership. They will do it in different ways. Not necessarily everybody speaking at the same time, some guys will lead by example. Others will have a quiet word with one of the younger players. Everybody has a role to play leadership wise and Magnus is no different.”

He suggested that Bradbury demonstrated his strength of character on his comeback last weekend following that suspension.

“You saw in the Ospreys game that he has a lot of character,” said Blair.

“The way he plays he is a no fuss operator. He can just get on with things and prove his own ability. For a young guy the physical attributes he has got is pretty impressive. He will only get better with time.”

Blair said he thought Gregor Townsend, Scotland’s head coach, will have spoken with Bradbury one-to-one about the incident, but reckoned the back-row forward’s stature within the squad was undiminished.

“I don’t know what it is like at Edinburgh in player-led stuff but what I see is there is no different treatment of how it would usually be,” he said.

“We still expect a lot of Magnus and he has still got the respect of the players, especially the Edinburgh guys who know him well. We saw how he worked on his extras during the summer tour and he will hopefully fit in with us smoothly.”