Scotland coach Gregor Townsend upbeat despite injury setbacks

Scotland boss Gregor Townsend believes the loss of captain Sione Tuipulotu to injury is a setback but is backing his squad to have the depth to cope. Tuipulotu was ruled out of the tournament after being hurt last week, with Scottish Rugby announcing on Monday that he will undergo surgery on a pectoral muscle injury suffered in a training session with Glasgow Warriors. First-choice lock Scott Cummings is also out after an arm fracture early on in Glasgow Warriors' defeat by Harlequins in the European Champions Cup on Saturday. However, Townsend did not dwell on the setbacks, preferring to emphasise Scotland's progress in building the depth of their squad. 'We now have a really experienced group. I think we were close to 700 caps in November, so they've got that cohesion and they understand the game we want to play. They understand what their teammates bring,' the coach said. 'We have some excellent players. So we have players that bring their own strengths to the group and we know that we have some real players of skill that can bring other players into the game, and the game that we want to play will mean that our wingers will get more touches of the ball. That's certainly the aim.' Scotland have flattered to deceive in recent Six Nations tournaments, winning their last four Calcutta Cup matches against England but finishing third or better only once in the last six editions. They posted solid results in last November's internationals with home wins over Australia, Fiji and Portugal but losing at Murrayfield to world champions South Africa. Scotland's 2025 campaign begins on Feb. 1 at home to Italy.