Pete Horne has revealed that Jamie Ritchie, Jamie Dobie and Jack Dempsey are unlikely to play any further part in Scotland’s Six Nations campaign after leaving the squad due to injuries ahead of Saturday’s clash with Wales in Cardiff.
The key trio started Saturday’s 31-20 Calcutta Cup triumph over England at Murrayfield but were all forced off before the end.
Perpignan flanker Ritchie suffered a knee injury, Glasgow No. 8 Dempsey went off with a bicep issue and Glasgow back Dobie sustained shoulder damage.
After the three players returned to their clubs to be assessed, assistant coach Horne — speaking from Scotland’s warm-weather training camp at Oliva Nova, near Valencia — said on Tuesday it is likely that their involvement in this year’s championship is over.
“It’s looking that way, which is unfortunate,” he said. “If there is an outside chance of them getting back involved, then great, they’ll link back up with us in the last week or so, but I can’t see it, to be honest.
“It’s a brutal game, Test match rugby. It’s so physical now, the collisions, the size of these boys, the physicality that’s involved. I think Demo [Dempsey] actually summed it up really well in the first week.
“He was talking about how everyone around the table has got to be ready to go at a moment’s notice because there’s going to be injuries, and it’s Sod’s Law that [he] was one of them.
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“It’s devastating to lose them, three guys in top form. They were outstanding at the weekend and have been a big part of the group, both on and off the field.”
Scotland are unlikely to call up any new faces to fill the gaps left by Dempsey, Ritchie and Dobie.
“No, we’re fairly happy with the group that we’ve got,” he said. “Thankfully, we have got a little bit more depth in the squad now than some of the years gone by.”
The absence of versatile back Dobie, who started the first two matches at wing, presents a possible opportunity for Blair Kinghorn to return to the fray in Cardiff.
The British and Irish Lions star was a surprise omission from the 23 for the games against Italy and England, and returned to France at the weekend to play for Toulouse in their Top 14 victory over Stade Francais.
“Blair arrived back with the squad yesterday, so he trained today with us,” Horne said. “Blair’s a supremely talented player. The competition’s obviously been really high in that [back-three] area.
“The three guys that have played [Dobie, Kyle Steyn and Tom Jordan], they got the opportunity against Italy and we felt like they went well in that game.
“Against England they obviously performed really well again. There will be an opportunity for someone with Jamie dropping out so there will be a bit of a shuffle in the back three somewhere.
“We’ll just assess how training goes tomorrow and make a call. But Blair’s in good spirits, he’s trained really well the last couple of weeks.
“He knows that if it is him that gets the nod this week, he’s got to be ready to go and perform.”
