Scotland have paid a heavy price for Saturday's combative performance against the All Blacks at BT Murrayfield with team officials confirming that a number of players picked up injuries in the course of the 24-16 defeat by the world champions.
Vern Cotter's side to face Tonga in Kilmarnock on Saturday is expected to be named on Thursday, but the head coach already knows that he will be without the services of Glasgow Warriors centre Mark Bennett for the game that will round off Scotland's viagogo Autumn Test series. Bennett, who made his international debut the previous weekend against Argentina, suffered a hamstring strain early in the match against the All Blacks.
Euan Murray, the Warriors prop, also failed to go the distance of the first half on Saturday, being helped off the field after 30 minutes after suffering a groin problem. He is expected to be assessed further today.
Other players counted among the walking wounded include Al Dickinson (lower leg), Alex Dunbar (ankle), Adam Ashe and Blair Cowan (neck strains), Richie Gray and Ross Ford (shoulder issues) and Tommy Seymour and Greig Laidlaw (hand injuries). No indication has been given regarding the severity of their problems, but none seemed to be particularly affected on Saturday.
Sean Lamont was an impressive replacement for Bennett on Saturday and is now most likely to fill the outside-centre berth against Tonga, but Cotter may prefer to keep Lamont on the bench on account of his versatility and start with Duncan Taylor of Saracens instead.
If Murray drops out then Geoff Cross, who replaced him against the All Blacks, will almost certainly be promoted to the starting XV to face Tonga. However, the replacement options at tighthead are limited at the moment and Cotter may have to look outside the squad to find cover on the bench. The most likely candidates for a call-up are Moray Low and Jon Welsh.
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