Gregor Townsend backs replacements after 'real blow' losing Sione Tuipulotu

Scotland co-captain Rory Darge insists there is still “massive excitement” about what the team can achieve in the upcoming Six Nations despite losing skipper Sione Tuipulotu for the whole championship.

Tuipulotu suffered a pectoral muscle injury in training with Glasgow last week that requires surgery and will keep him out for several months.

Warriors team-mate Darge, who will step up to jointly lead the side alongside fly-half Finn Russell, as they did in last year’s championship, believes Scotland can still set their sights high despite the loss of their talismanic centre.

“I wasn’t expecting to be here this time last week,” said the flanker, speaking at the Six Nations launch event in Rome. “I am obviously gutted for Sione. The form he was in leading up to it has been outstanding.

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“Sometimes it is hard to believe he can keep up the standards he was playing at. He is a mate and I was excited for him coming into this tournament – he was building up so much momentum.

“But injuries happen, it is one of the un-controllables in rugby. It is something you have to deal with. We just have to go into camp and control what we can. There is still massive excitement about this campaign – we are getting really excited for it.

“We have got Italy and Ireland at home in our first two games and we know what’s going to be needed to get results there. It’s going to take a massive amount of preparation and effort because we are playing against good teams. So there is a massive amount of excitement from the group’s point of view, despite the injuries.”

Darge, 24, has twice been sole captain of Scotland and said the lessons learned from sharing the role last year, as well as acting as a vice-captain to Tuipulotu last autumn, will serve the team well in their forthcoming campaign.

“Even with Sione as captain in November, we were always learning how we can still lead within that,” he said. “With Sione there was that single captain but within any team, there is a leadership group and there are strengths within that group in terms of defence or attack or the emotional side of the game, or the technical side.

“There are always leaders in different aspects. We learnt a massive amount last year and we have had meetings already about what we can do to get it right in this Six Nations from the start, because starting well is very important.”

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend acknowledged it was a “real blow” to lose Tuipulotu just two weeks out from their opening game against Italy on 1 February.

But he believes other centres in the squad – with Stafford McDowall, Rory Hutchinson and the versatile Tom Jordan among those vying to replace Tuipulotu – will step up and take their chance in Tuipulotu’s absence.

“It is a real blow for him but it is also blow to the tournament and to our supporters that they don’t get to see Sione playing,” Townsend said.

“But for the team, you have to accept that injuries happen. That is why you create depth over a longer period. We have some really good 12s in our squad who now have an opportunity they probably didn’t think would be coming along. We are backing them to go and grab that opportunity.”

Scotland have never finished higher than third – in 2018 and 2023 – in their seven previous Six Nations campaigns under Townsend, but he believes the experiences they have shared has helped to forge belief and confidence heading into the tournament.

“We now have an experienced group – we were close to 700 caps (when they played Australia) in November and they have that cohesion and understanding of the game we want to play,” he added.

“They understand what their team-mates bring. We have some excellent players who bring their own strengths to the group – some real players of skill who can bring others into the game we want to play, so our wingers get more touches of the ball.

“We were very close in every game we played last year. But the final step is the hardest one. Sometimes it is the bounce of the ball, or a referee’s decision. Often it is your execution when you get opportunities. It is such a high level of rugby that you are not going to get a huge amount of opportunities to score and you have to take them when they are on offer.”