SEAN Maitland will not be part of the Scotland squad for this week's game against Wales after being deemed unavailable for selection due to Covid protocols. The winger was one of a group of Barbarians players who breached the rules last week by going out for dinner in London, leading to the cancellation of the match between the invitational side and England.
In a statement issued last night, Scotland coach Gregor Townsend explained that Maitland had effectively ruled himself out this week, and declined to say whether the player would be subject to further disciplinary action. Scotland have a week off after Saturday's Six Nations Championship match in Llanelli, but then have four Nations Cup games on successive weekends. “We are working hard to ensure our training camp remains secure in terms of Covid protocols and as such Sean’s actions last week with the Barbarians mean that he won’t be able to re-join our group now and we will review the situation in the coming weeks,” Townsend said.
Glasgow Wingers winger Ratu Tagive has been called into the squad as cover, although it now seems likely that Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe will keep their places for Saturday’s game against Wales, with Blair Kinghorn, full-back in Friday night’s win over Georgia, giving way to Stuart Hogg, the returning captain.
Hogg and his Exeter Chiefs team-mates Jonny Gray and Sam Skinner have now joined up with Gregor Townsend’s squad, having been absent on club duty last week when they won the Premiership final against Wasps.
“We welcome four players this week as we embark on our preparation for our final Guinness Six Nations match against Wales,” Townsend added in the statement. “Ratu was unlucky to have missed out a couple of weeks ago, picking up an injury on the weekend we selected our training squad. It’s great to have him with us now in addition to our three Exeter Chiefs - Jonny, Sam and Stuart.”
Hooker Ewan Ashman, who was training with Scotland last week, has now gone back to Sale Sharks. Glasgow back-row forward Matt Fagerson, who injured an ankle in the 48-7 victory against the Georgians, will continue to be monitored by the Scotland medical staff. If he is unable to play against Wales his place at No 8 will go to either Nick Haining or Cornell du Preez, both of whom came off the bench on Friday night.
While the squad were relatively happy with their eight-try win over Georgia, the message from the camp this week is that a significant step up will be required against Wales. Having said that, Graham for one still believes that the warm-up game offered worthwhile preparation for the Six Nations match. “It was a good win and they’re big, physical men,” said the Edinburgh back, who scored two tries. “Wales are the exact same. It’s going to be a tough game down there, and Wales will attack a lot more than the Georgians did, and we probably won’t see as much ball as we did on Friday night. So we’ll have to get our heads round that defensively and get up for that game, because we will have a lot more defending to do.
“Wales have got a really good defence, so we’re only going to get a few chances, so we’re going to have to really take them when they’re on. Two years ago on my first cap we didn’t do that - we had a few chances but we never executed them and we ended up losing the game. So when we get our chances on Saturday we’re going to have to be clinical and finish them off.”
Graham’s fellow-winger Duhan van der Merwe also got on the scoresheet on his debut, and appeared very comfortable on the bigger stage - in part, surely, because the other members of the back three were both Edinburgh team-mates of his. “It was unreal,” Graham continued. “I know what Duhan can do - he’s done it for two years with Edinburgh, he’s been outstanding. Me, Blair and Duhan complement each other really well, so it was really exciting to have our whole Edinburgh back three. I think that was the first time we’ve all scored in the same game, so it was quite nice for us all.”
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