DUNCAN TAYLOR is a major doubt for the Rugby World Cup with a shoulder injury, it emerged yesterday, while Tim Swinson is also a concern because of ankle damage.
Alex Dunbar will travel to the USA next week to continue his recovery from a knee injury, and he and fellow-centres Matt Scott and Mark Bennett remain on course to be available for the tournament.
Sean Maitland, the wing or full-back, is also making his comeback as scheduled, but Vern Cotter revealed yesterday that, just as those worries are beginning to clear up, so others have emerged.
"The injury we are most concerned about at the moment is Duncan Taylor, whose shoulder is not showing positive signs of improvement over the last couple weeks," the Scotland head coach said, as the squad continued their week of preparations here in the Pyrenees. "He'll get looked at medically and so will Tim Swinson, who hasn't recovered from his ankle problem.
"The long-term injuries, like Matt Scott and Mark Bennett, are coming on well. And Sean Maitland we had a look at before we left and he looked good.
"As far as progress goes, [Dunbar] is moving forward very well. Everybody is optimistic. I'm not saying it's done; we're very cautious."
The squad will move from Font Romeu to Perpignan today for their last two days in France before returning to BT Murrayfield. Once back in Edinburgh, Cotter expects some of the current absentees to join up with the group.
"I think next week when we get back Matt Scott and Mark Bennett will join us. They won't be doing the full content, but they will be doing part of it. Hopefully Sean Maitland. Alex will be a little bit further down the road, with Duncan Taylor now a further complication."
Dunbar, who had surgery back in March after rupturing his knee ligament in training, will travel on Monday to Philadelphia for a three-week camp with Bill Knowles, the renowned rehabilitation specialist whose previous clients include Tiger Woods, Johnny Wilkinson and Frank Lampard. He is then expected to rejoin the national squad for further assessment and the next phase of his rehabilitation.
"We're pleased to say that Alex remains on schedule at this stage and that, 14 weeks down the line, he is now in the right place for this trip to the States," said Paul McGinley of the SRU's medical department.
"Evidence suggests the earliest you could expect somebody to safely recover from ACL reconstruction is around six months, and that is tight; but that's the timescale to which we're working if he is to feature in the Rugby World Cup.
"There's another crucial rehabilitation phase coming up, with the view to getting him game time before the World Cup, providing we can stick to the recovery schedule."
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