Scotland have been handed a Six Nations injury boost ahead of Gregor Townsend’s squad announcement with Glasgow Warriors pair Kyle Steyn and Jack Dempsey set to return to action.
Glasgow skipper Steyn has been out injured since undergoing ankle surgery in November while Dempsey suffered a facial injury in the same month but they could return to action this weekend with both available for the Champions Cup showdown with French side Toulon. Warriors assistant boss Peter Murchie is delighted both players are back available but he suggested that they could be eased back in due to the form of younger players in the squad over recent weeks.
Townsend is set to name his Scotland squad for the Six Nations and having Steyn and Dempsey available is great news for him as they look to make an impact in the competition over the next couple of months. Scotland finished third in last year’s edition with three wins and two defeats and they’ll be hoping to challenge favourites Ireland for the top spot this time around.
Speaking ahead of Warriors game with Toulon on Friday night, Murchie said: “They’ve both got a chance of featuring. Both are available. Other guys have stuck their hands up recently so there are good selection headaches now. We’re not in a position where we have to chuck someone in who’s just fit. They can get a couple of weeks of training behind them before they play. We’ll make those decisions but both are available.
“Yeah, it’s obviously good timing for the two of them as they’ll both be looking to make an impact with Scotland in the Six Nations. That’s good for Scotland going forward. They’ve both had fairly long-term injuries so you can’t always put an absolute week on it. It’s good timing for us to have two quality players available again to us and it’s good for them personally too.
Murchie admits there was frustration among the squad following the controversial end to Saturday’s defeat to Exeter, but he was proud of how the players performed on the day despite Euan Ferrie’s late try being ruled out in a decision from the TMO that has been heavily criticised.
But with a winner takes all clash against Toulon in the Champions Cup, he’s warned his players that they can’t feel sorry for themselves and insists it won’t be a hard luck story if they are knocked out of the tournament despite the circumstances that led to the defeat in England last weekend.
He added: “We spoke about it this morning. We’re all human beings so some people park it right away and others might not be able to. But you have to channel it into the right way. Whether it was the right or wrong decision – to be honest it doesn’t really matter. The only thing we can do is beat Toulon. So it has to be channelled into what we can do, rather than ifs, buts and maybes. We don’t want the narrative to be ‘poor us’ as it won’t be poor us if we don’t put in a performance on Friday. It will just be that we haven’t qualified. The only thing we can do is put in a great performance and try to get the victory that takes us through.
“If you look at what we tried to do, either attack or defence, then we did it in large amounts, particularly in the first half. We had opportunities where, either due to the bounce of the ball or the final pass, we didn’t put away. Defensively Exeter had been absolutely streamrollering teams, put 60 points on Saracens, top try scorers in the Premiership. So we knew it would be a massive challenge. But it felt like we really fronted up and didn’t give them that front-foot ball. They had to work really hard for those first two scores. Some of the young lads were outstanding, Alex Samuel and Gregor Hiddleston both stood up. For large amounts we did what we had wanted but obviously there’s a frustration that we didn’t finish it off and come back with a win. Leaving aside the drama in the last couple of minutes, we could have had it won before then and not need to do that.
“It’s a big week for us – it’s a winner takes all in some respects. We know what we need to do to qualify for the next round. Hopefully it’s a big occasion and we get a good crowd creating a buzz on a Friday night. We want to make it one of those special European nights.”
