SCOTLAND were last night sweating over the availability of three likely starters for the pivotal Rugby World Cup meeting with Samoa in Newcastle on Saturday, with hooker Ross Ford and centre Matt Scott joining back row John Hardie in the queue of players still required to complete concussion protocols before head coach Vern Cotter names his team on Thursday. While Hardie is confident of "ticking the final few boxes" which would allow him to return to the line-up in a match 17 days on from sustaining his head knock against Japan, Ford failed an in-game assessment during the bruising 34-16 defeat to South Africa and Scott reported concussion symptoms after the final whistle.
The prognosis on the influential Stuart Hogg and Finn Russell also appeared positive: the cramp to his lower back and legs which caused the full back to exit the fray early against the South Africans was not said to be of "immediate concern" while fly half Russell is said to be making "good progress" on his return from the ankle injury he sustained during Scotland's second pool match against the USA. Additional collateral damage sustained during an attritional confrontation with the Springboks includes a dead leg for lock Jonny Gray and a mild knee strain for centre Richie Vernon.
Hardie's return would be a huge boost with the Scots chasing the victory which would secure their berth in the quarter finals. "I have just got a couple of things I have to tick off but hopefully I am looking to play on Saturday and am really looking forward to it," said the New Zealand-born No 7. "It is a big game for the boys and I want to be out there with them.
"Samoa is a going to be the crunch game, it is going to be played in this great atmosphere so it is something really to look forward to this week," Hardie added. "I have been itching to play. I haven't had a lot of the symptoms of concussion but you can't be too careful with your head because you only get one of them. It will be great to get out there and pull on that jersey again and help us get into the quarter finals, which would be awesome for us and awesome for Scotland as a whole."
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