Scotland stand-off Finn Russell has joined the growing list of senior players to be ruled out of this weekend’s Six Nations Championship trip to France after being deemed unfit for consideration on what was the second day of his bid to prove he had fully recovered from a head injury suffered at the weekend.
Under the new head injury assessment (HIA) protocols introduced to improve the protection of players, the 26-year-old was not allowed to return to the field after initial tests were carried out during the meeting between his club, Racing 92 and Top 14 rivals Toulouse on Sunday, leaving him with minimal time to get through what is normally a six day recovery process.
He was subsequently cleared to travel back to be assessed by Scotland’s medical team and was declared to be symptom free on Monday. However, in a brief statement issued yesterday, Scottish Rugby officials indicated that he “has not satisfied the requirements of today’s component of the graduated return to play protocol – two days on from sustaining the injury in Racing 92’s Top 14 clash with Toulouse – meaning there is insufficient time for him to be considered for this weekend’s action. He will now return to the care of his club’s medical team.”
Fellow British & Irish Lions tourist Stuart Hogg had already been among those who were in the starting line-up against Ireland but will not be able to make the trip to Paris as a result of the shoulder injury he sustained, while fellow Glasgow Warriors Huw Jones and Ryan Wilson, have been sidelined by knee injuries they suffered that day.
Tighthead prop WP Nel, another who would be considered an automatic first choice player, missed the meeting with Ireland after damaging an ankle during the tournament opener against Italy, while his fellow Edinburgh forward Hamish Watson broke his hand in a European Champions Cup tie a fortnight before the championship got underway.
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