Scotland fly-half Finn Russell will find out later today if he is free to resume his place in the national side to take on Italy at BT Murrayfield on Saturday.
Russell was yellow-carded after his now-notorious clash with his Wales counterpart Dan Biggar in the Edinburgh stadium 10 days ago. The 22-year-old was subsequently cited for the incident and the card was effectively upgraded to red by a Six Nations discipline panel, who banned him from rugby for two weeks.
However, Russell's punishment provoked outrage across the rugby community, with many leading figures in the game saying it was far too harsh a sanction for what was, at worst, a clumsy challenge. Others have since called for the law relating to challenging for the ball in the air to be reviewed. Murrayfield officials lodged an appeal, the details of which will be heard by another discipline tribunal in London today.
The affair has disrupted Scotland's preparations for the Italy game. Coach Vern Cotter is set to name his side for the match on Thursday, but training has clearly been held back by uncertainty over Russell, who occupies what is widely recognised as the most influential position in a team.
However, Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw said yesterday that he and his team-mates will do their best to cope with the situation as they strive to get their Six Nations campaign off the mark after back-to-back losses against France and Wales.
"It will be a bit," said Laidlaw when asked if it would be a setback to play without Russell. "He's a good player and he plays with confidence. A lot has been said, but the boys at training are ready to fill in if selected. It's up to them, if they come in, to put their stamp on the game and make sure they take the chance."
In the absence of the injured Duncan Weir and Ruaridh Jackson, the most obvious candidates to fill Russell's berth - if required - are Greig Tonks of Edinburgh and Peter Horne of Glasgow. Both have solid experience in the No.10 position, but neither is an out-an-out specialist.
Laidlaw has also played there - he was Scotland fly-half during the 2012 and 2013 championships - but he has since reverted to his favoured scrum-half role and appeared to rule himself out as a contender ahead of the Italy game.
"There are boys in the squad who play there week in and week out," he said. "The coaches will look there before they look at me, that's for sure."
Laidlaw also stressed that he was fed up with being praised in defeat. "We don't want to play well and get beat," he said. "We'd rather play badly and win."
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