Nathan Hines has been ruled out of Scotland's clash against France on Saturday and could miss the majority of the Six Nations after being booked in for knee surgery. The Scottish pack will be further weakened by the news that Euan Murray has also failed to recover from the injury that kept him out of Sunday's defeat by Wales.
The Scotland head coach, Frank Hadden, today delayed naming his team for the Paris encounter to allow Geoff Cross and Simon Webster another 24 hours to recover from concussion. Both are doubtful, but 10 other players who picked up injuries during the 26–13 defeat at Murrayfield all took part in a full training session today.
Hines was optimistic about his chances of recovering from a knee injury when he spoke earlier this week, but he is now scheduled to undergo immediate exploratory surgery. Without being aware of the specialist's diagnosis, the Scotland team doctor, James Robson, estimated the Perpignan lock would be ruled out for between two and five weeks.
Murray is making "slow but steady" progress as Northampton Saints medical staff treat his rib injury, and Robson is hopeful the prop will be fit to return against Italy on 28 February.
Meanwhile, Cross and Webster will undergo further assessment on Wednesday morning ahead of Hadden's team announcement. The pair had initially made good progress following their head knocks but failed to satisfy Robson of their full recovery during a non-contact exercise session this morning.
The recovery of Cross has been further complicated by injuries to both knees, which he strained when he fell unconscious after tackling Lee Byrne on his painful debut. "Because he was knocked out almost instantaneously, he damaged both knees as he fell to the ground," Robson said. "It was his knees that were causing him problems this morning in terms of being mobile."
Robson will observe their reaction to another session on exercise bikes tomorrow morning. If their condition has improved, they will have to be passed fit by a neurologist in order to be named in Hadden's 22.
Robson likened the Murrayfield treatment room yesterday morning to "emergency ward 10" after 12 of the players who faced Wales suffered injuries. But Jim Hamilton, the player causing most concern aside from Webster and Cross, brushed off an eye injury to take part in today's session. Chris Cusiter (knee), Mike Blair (dead leg) and Jason White (calf) were among the others to make full recoveries.
Meanwhile, the defence coach, Graham Steadman, has called on his players to atone for their "passive" display against Wales. "Having had a chat with several of the players over the past 24 hours, they are still hurting, as we all were," the former Great Britain rugby league international said. "But it's important we don't dwell on it, we park it and move on, and the mood in the camp is certainly a lot better today.
"I've been very impressed by the honesty of the players in our review. There has been no one hiding under tables. But the most important thing is that they now step forward and put in a performance that merits a Scotland shirt.
"France will play very similar to Wales, with a little more flair out wide," he added. "They like to play off the front foot with quick ball and they will keep the ball in hand. We have to be alert and proactive instead of being reactive.
"We have to stamp our authority on the game in the first 15 minutes – that never happened at the weekend. We can't allow these guys to get on the front foot in their own backyard."
