Forgotten Scotland back returns to training two years since his last cap

Scotland and Saracens centre Duncan Taylor is back in training with Scotland ahead of the World Cup in September.

A video was shared on Twitter by Mark Palmer of the 29-year-old running, although his knee is heavily strapped.

Great to see Duncan Taylor back on a rugby pitch, albeit with more padding than @SDM_Robertson’s budgie smugglers pic.twitter.com/zgSD9FnrQ6

— Mark Palmer (@MarkPalmerST) July 3, 2019

The powerful centre was a surprise call-up to Gregor Townsend’s World Cup training squad in May, after he missed all of last season after rupturing his ACL and PCL in September 2018. That came after another torrid year with injuries, where he barely played for Saracens either.

Taylor now has not represented Scotland in over two years, earning his last cap against Fiji in September 2017. However, he was looked upon favourably by Vern Cotter and now Townsend, which is why he made the squad despite so little game time. Also, his versatility could prove useful, as he can also play on the wing.

The strapping on his knee may just be precautionary as he works his way back to full fitness, or it may be an indication that he may still have a weakness there, but Scottish fans will be glad to see him back in training nonetheless.

The 21-cap international will want to impress the selectors during this training camp in the hope of making the final squad in a few months. However, having played so little rugby, he has a lot of work ahead of him.

Speaking in May, Townsend said: “Our goal is to deliver our best rugby on September 22nd [when Scotland face Ireland in the opening Pool round] and throughout the following few weeks, so there will be a big conditioning element driving us towards that.

“We’ve got to be ready to play with energy, huge effort and be fitter than every team we come up against. That will enable us to attack and defend at a high level and put pressure on the opposition.”