Gregor Townsend expressed sympathy for Dave Cherry after the veteran hooker’s first World Cup was brought to a premature end following a fall down the stairs at Scotland’s team hotel.
It emerged on Thursday that the 32-year-old had withdrawn from the squad with concussion after he took a tumble and banged his head at the Scots’ tournament base near Nice on Monday while the players were enjoying some down time with their families.
The previous day, Cherry had played his first World Cup match as a second-half replacement for George Turner in the 18-3 defeat by world champions South Africa in Marseille.
The Edinburgh hooker flew out of France on Thursday to return home, where his fiancée Olivia is due to give birth in the coming weeks.
Stuart McInally – cut from the provisional training squad last month – has been drafted in as Cherry’s replacement.
“It’s very difficult for Dave, and it’s sad,” head coach Townsend said at a media briefing in Nice on Thursday.
“At least he got to play in a game. His wife’s just about to give birth so at least he’s got something positive to go back to. He did well to get himself into the World Cup squad and he did well at the weekend. He would have had more involvement as we went through the pool.”
Cherry’s misfortune has paved the way for a remarkable career swansong for McInally. The 33-year-old announced in April that he would be retiring from rugby after the World Cup to pursue a career as an airline pilot.
McInally was part of Townsend’s 41-man provisional training group for the tournament, but the head coach then omitted him when he named his final 33-man squad in August, seemingly ending the career of the man who captained the Scots at the last World Cup in Japan.
However, the long-serving Edinburgh forward was invited out to France last week to provide cover after hooker Ewan Ashman sustained a head knock in training and he attended Sunday’s match in Marseille before being told his services were no longer required and flying home on Monday.
McInally’s roller-coaster summer then took another twist when he was summoned back to the south of France on Wednesday.
“He’s been called out twice now,” said Townsend, reflecting on whirlwind period for the veteran.
“On Monday I was chatting to him back at the hotel and I said ‘you can stay until tomorrow or go back today, it looks like Ewan is on track to make a full recovery, so there’s no reason to stay’.
“And then he came back out two days later and he’s trained today. He’s obviously kept training, he’s been topping up (his fitness) and he’s always said he’d be ready for the opportunity. Maybe he would have been thinking that would have happened last week, but it’s now happened for him.
“Stuart is a very experienced player for us. He’s obviously been at World Cups before and had trained really well throughout the (pre-tournament) camp and had played well so we’re fortunate that we have someone with his experience and quality to step in.”
The Scots trained on Thursday for the first time Sunday’s bruising encounter with South Africa and Townsend was pleased to see Finn Russell come through the session after the talismanic stand-off took a couple of heavy hits against the Boks, one of which required lengthy on-field treatment.
George Horne and Ashman also took part after concussion ruled them out of contention for the opening game and the pair are on track to return to the fold for the next match against Tonga in Nice on Sunday week.
“Yes, Finn trained,” said Townsend. “There were two guys with red bibs on (George Horne and Ewan Ashman) today. It was a non-contact session although we did do a contact element.
“The two guys with red bibs on didn’t do that (contact element) but Finn wasn’t in a red bib which means he’s obviously able to do some sort of contact, which is a good recovery. He did the whole session.”
The only player who missed training on Thursday was back-rower Luke Crosbie, who was ruled out last weekend with a rib problem.
“Luke is on track, he’s just ill today,” reported the head coach. “He trained on Tuesday morning with the physios. He’s now fully available for selection, but overnight he had a stomach complaint so that’s why he wasn’t training today.
“The other two (Horne and Ashman) came through the session fine and their next stage is to add contact which will be tomorrow. Ali Price went off (the training pitch) as a precaution with a tight groin, but I don’t think it will be anything serious.”
The Scotland players had three days off following Sunday’s defeat by South Africa, with the players’ families invited into the camp.
Townsend is adamant there will be no hangover from their opening-weekend setback as they build towards the Tonga showdown.
“I don’t think morale was ever affected,” he said when asked if he felt the short break was beneficial to the players.
“We knew this would be an opportunity to spend time with families because our next games (after Tonga) are pretty much game then into six or seven-day turnarounds, so it will be quickly into that process.
“We saw the families all together in the hotel for the last two or three days and that was really good, but the mindset they came in to train with today was excellent.
“They worked really hard. That was a tough session, tomorrow’s will be tough again, and Sunday’s will be tough. We know we’ve got an opportunity now to push things a bit harder and then we get back into a normal Test week, which starts on Tuesday for us.”
Greenwood 'making a difference' for ambitious Marseille, says Longoria
Mason Greenwood is "making a difference" for Roberto De Zerbi's Marseille amid their strong start to the Ligue 1 season, says the club's chief executive, Pablo Longoria.
Greenwood joined Marseille on a permanent deal from Manchester United in July, having spent the 2023-24 season on loan at Getafe.
Greenwood had not appeared for United since he was arrested and suspended by the club in January 2022. The forward was later charged with attempted rape and assault, which he denied, with the charges dropped in early 2023 following the withdrawal of key witnesses.
He has scored five times in his first three Ligue 1 appearances for Marseille, becoming just the second player to achieve that feat in the last 50 seasons of the French top flight, after Nice's Mario Balotelli in 2016.
He scored an 81-second brace in the first half of a 3-1 win at Toulouse prior to the international break, lifting Marseille to seven points from their first three games.
While Marseille's move for the 22-year-old drew criticism from many onlookers, Longoria has been impressed by his impact on the pitch.
Speaking at the Thinking Football Summit organised by Liga Portugal, Longoria told Stats Perform: "He's a great player. He's making a difference.
"If you're asking all the players, all the people that are in the day-to-day with the team, they can tell you that his level is amazing and we are really happy having him.
"We are really happy about the start of the season he is doing and the behaviour he's having with us in Marseille."
Marseille pulled off what many saw as a coup to appoint De Zerbi as their new head coach ahead of this season, following his surprise exit from Brighton.
Longoria believes the Italian has been a seamless fit at the Stade Velodrome, saying: "What I appreciated was the firmness of Roberto de Zerbi in all the conversations and the connection that he has created with us since the first day.
"This is the biggest satisfaction that I can say, and I'm very thankful to the coach for how he's adapting himself to the project."
Marseille are currently second in the Ligue 1 standings, two points behind champions Paris Saint-Germain, who lost Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid ahead of the new campaign.
While Longoria believes Marseille's project is one for the medium-to-long term, he refuses to put a limit on their ambitions for 2024-25.
"They are having a great start to the season as well, to be honest. Our objective is to build a project over three years. That is the number one," he said of PSG.
"Second, we are really happy with how we started this season. Our goal has to be in the Champions League and improve our level.
"After that, let's see what the competition will put on us. We need to be ambitious, but at the same time, we need to be realistic as well. I'm not saying that we cannot compete.
"I'm asking for a bit of patience because this is a three-year project, and we really want to improve each day, each week, and each game day. We need to improve our level."
Wallabies will get things right before Lions tour, promises Rugby Australia chief
Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh is confident the Wallabies will be ready to compete with the British and Irish Lions next year, despite suffering the heaviest defeat in their Test history last time out.
Australia were crushed 67-27 by Argentina in the Rugby Championship last time out, their third defeat in four games in this year's tournament.
They were also dumped out of last year's Rugby World Cup in the pool stage following losses to Fiji and Wales, and they are down to ninth in the World Rugby Rankings.
The British and Irish Lions will face Australia in three Tests when they tour down under between June and August next year, with many fearing Joe Schmidt's team will be blown away.
Waugh, however, says there is plenty of time for the Wallabies to get things right before then, telling the Sydney Morning Herald: "You can see the progress is there.
"It is not nearly where we need it to be, but if we keep progressing at the speed with which we have moved things in the last six months, then there is plenty of time.
"It is a team that is, and I hate using the word 're-building', but it is a team that is re-setting, and it takes experience in big moments to get better.
"Obviously, the enormity of the scoreline in that second half was disappointing.
"But there is context that is important... we are not the most experienced team in world rugby, and we are building that experience."
Australia conclude their Rugby Championship campaign with two fixtures against New Zealand before the end of September, then face England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland in their Autumn International Tests in November.
Clarke believes Scotland 'deserved something' following defeat to Portugal
Scotland boss Steve Clarke has declared that his side "deserved something" from their Nations League clash with Portugal after losing 2-1 thanks to a late Cristiano Ronaldo goal.
Scott McTominay gave Scotland an early lead after seven minutes, but Portugal fought back through goals from Bruno Fernandes and Ronaldo to take all three points in Group A1.
Ronaldo's goal came in the 88th minute and was his 901st career goal.
It leaves Scotland on their longest-ever winless run as they remain without a win in their last eight competitive games in all competitions, but Clarke feels they should not have left Lisbon empty-handed.
"I'm disappointed to lose a game where it looked, for a large period, we would get something from it," he told the BBC.
"I'm really disappointed for my players because I think they deserved to get something from the game.
"If you ignore the results, [there are a lot of positives], but we're professional, so it's disappointing.
"We played well in these two games, but we don't have anything to show for it. I've told the players not to be too hard on themselves. They have to understand the work that we're doing."
Scotland did well to prevent Portugal from getting any further sight at goal, defending a total of 26 shots during the match with seven ending up on target.
The 16 shots the Scots had to defend in the opening 45 minutes were the most they have faced in a first-half since October 2012 when Belgium also let loose 16 efforts.
"With the amount of balls that go into the box, you know one of them can go in the back of the net and that's what happened to us," added Clarke.
"When you bring quality players from the bench like Roberto [Martinez] can do, you always know there's a risk, but I felt we handled it well.
"We'll go away and analyse these games, and hopefully, we can give the lads a few pointers for the games next month, which don't get any easier."
Gamechanger Ronaldo was brought on at half-time by Portugal manager Roberto Martinez, a move that was well thought through and had the desired effect.
"Ronaldo did 17 sprints against Croatia. He is the player who made the most sprints. So we need to protect the players. One more game in 72 hours is impossible to have a physical performance [equal]," Martinez explained.
"The question was whether Ronaldo played the first half and left or came in and finished the game. That was the decision.
"He is an asset to the national team. When he comes in, if the [team] needs goals, Cris gives energy and a feeling to the fans. The stadium is different.
"If Cris leaves, it's the opposite and facilitates what the opponent would like to do when playing away from home in Portugal."
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