Scots boost over Townsend injury

13 April 2012

Gregor Townsend's cherished dream of putting the skids under another English Grand Slam will hinge on his recovery from an accidental start to the Six Nations Championship.

The knee which went from under him three minutes into Sunday's apology of a Test match in Paris left Scotland uncertain about whether they will go to Twickenham early next month without their Lions fly half.

A day of conflicting medical bulletins from France which began with fears that he might miss the entire tournament ended with relief all round.

Townsend's French team, Castres, first reported that the Scot would be out for 'four to six weeks' with badly twisted cruciate ligaments in his right knee.

That was later amended to 'slightly twisted' and club manager Jacques Cauquil said: 'Gregor is very relieved. He had a big fright.'

Already out of the home match against Wales a week on Saturday, Townsend knows there is no guarantee that he will have recovered in time for the Calcutta Cup duel a fortnight later on March 3.

Should he miss it, then the most creative Scottish player of his generation will be excused for wondering whether he will ever get the chance to break his losing run at Twickenham.

Since making his debut there as a teenaged replacement when Craig Chalmers broke an arm eight years ago, Townsend has lost on every occasion, a sequence which survived his last appearance there largely because of Kenny Logan's extravagance in front of goal after the Scots had matched their opponents try for try, only to lose 24-21.

Townsend, one of the shock troops responsible for diverting England's clean sweep on to the Murrayfield rocks at the end of last year's tournament, went for a scan on his knee in Toulouse yesterday.

Scotland coach Ian McGeechan said: 'It confirmed there is no intrinsic damage and Gregor will now begin his rehabilitation programme. We cannot say at this stage how long he will be sidelined.'

While Townsend flies to Edinburgh tomorrow for rehabilitation, McGeechan is already considering how best to cope without him. He has two choices at No.10 - staying with Sunday's substitute Duncan Hodge or switching Chris Paterson from full back and recalling Glenn Metcalfe as the last line of defence.

Italy are resigned to going to Twickenham without one of their better players, scrum half Alessandro Troncon. Sent off against Ireland in Rome for punching his opposite number Peter Stringer, last season's captain of the Azzurri now faces a 30-day ban.

Meanwhile, Clive Woodward was yesterday acclaimed by Thomas Castaignede as the manager responsible for running 'the best team in the world'.

The Frenchman, still on the long road to recovery after rupturing an achilles tendon three months ago, said: 'In Woodward they have a trainer who really knows how to get the best out of his players.

'England now understand that they must not give up the ball, so they hold on to it and wait for the right moment to score their tries. Only the Anglo-Saxons show this patience. Latin nations, like us, just don't have it.'

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