Defence coach Steve Tandy insisted Scotland would have no concerns about throwing recently-appointed co-captain Rory Darge into Saturday’s showdown with France following six weeks on the sidelines.
The 23-year-old flanker sustained a knee injury while playing for Glasgow against Edinburgh on December 30 and has not played since.
He was initially rated doubtful for the entire championship but has recovered quicker than anticipated and is expected to be ready for this weekend’s match against Les Bleus.
Darge’s return to contention is particularly timely after fellow flanker Luke Crosbie and veteran lock Richie Gray were ruled out for the rest of the tournament with shoulder and bicep injuries respectively.
“Dargey’s trained and he’s looking good,” reported Tandy on Tuesday. “He came through training last week, he trained again today, so all being well in the rest of the training week he’ll be available.”
Asked if he felt Darge could slot straight back into the Test XV having not played for almost a month and a half, Tandy said: “Definitely. He’s done it before, after injuries.
“Knowing Rory and the guy he is, how diligent he is and how he looks at and studies the game, we have no doubts. Physically, it feels like he’s adding layer on layer as he gets a little bit older.
“He’s physically ready and even when they are injured, the boys are still lifting (weights) – it’s not as if they’re sitting there doing nothing. They’re active in and around what the strength and conditioning guys and the medical team want.”
Tandy lamented the loss of back-rower Crosbie and second-rower Gray after the pair – both of whom started the match – picked up tournament-ending injuries in Saturday’s 27-26 victory away to Wales.
“First and foremost, with the characters they are, they’re awesome individuals,” said the coach. “Richie brings lots of experience around the group and he’s got better with age.
“He’s great to work with and you see the energy and clarity he brings to the group. He will be sorely missed.
“Luke has fought so hard to get to the international scene. You see the warrior he is on the field, but there is also the character he is and how he leads in the training environment, how he speaks in meetings.
“We’ve got a great squad though. If you look at the back-rowers, there are loads of form players so we’re lucky enough to have an abundance in those positions.
“If someone misses out, everyone else is ready to step into the shirt.”
Tandy admitted there were “lots of learnings” for Scotland after a game in Cardiff where they went dangerously close to squandering a 27-0 lead.
However, he also felt there were plenty of positives to be drawn from their first win in the Welsh capital in 22 years, ahead of back-to-back home games against France and England.
“It’s important not to get too far ahead,” said Tandy. “We’ve had a really good result, going to Wales and getting that job done, but now it’s just about focusing on France.
“Coming back to Murrayfield is massive. We’ve got to improve bits of our game and continue lots of the stuff we did in the first half and at the back end of the Wales game.”
Kolisi 'had to prove himself' in landmark South Africa triumph
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi said he had to prove himself after being given the chance to lead the Springboks out in their Rugby Championship win over New Zealand.
Kolisi's early try after the break sparked the hosts' revival after they went in at half-time 9-3 down before roaring to an 18-12 victory in Cape Town.
It was the fourth successive win by the Springboks over the All Blacks, as they maintained their perfect record in this year's Rugby Championship.
Kolisi described the encounter as South Africa's most important game since they won the World Cup final against the same opponents in Paris last year.
"The coach gave me the chance when I said I was okay so I couldn’t go half-hearted. Nobody is going to celebrate you if you don’t go flat out," said Kolisi.
"We didn’t start the way we wanted to and the coach was quite honest with us [at half-time]. At the start of the second half we did what we wanted.
"This game was really big for us."
The triumph marked the first time since 1949 that South Africa have won four straight Tests against New Zealand.
However, head coach Rassie Erasmus was muted despite achieving the most successful streak against South Africa's arch-rivals in the professional era.
"It was nice, but they have had big scores against us and six times in a row they have beaten us," he said.
"It's nothing to brag about because they have done worse to us. But it was special."
South Africa 18-12 New Zealand: Springboks close in on Rugby Championship glory
South Africa continued their dominance in this year's Rugby Championship as they clinched an 18-12 victory over New Zealand in Cape Town on Saturday.
Having trailed by six points heading into the break, the hosts rallied to record a fourth consecutive win over the All Blacks and lift the Freedom Cup for the first time in 15 years.
New Zealand started brightly, with their dominance rewarded by the boot of Damian McKenzie after Jasper Wiese had been sent to the sin bin.
McKenzie converted his second penalty just before the half-hour mark as the Springboks saw some uncharacteristic errors punished.
Handre Pollard's penalty failed to change the sway of momentum, with McKenzie's third conversion of the half giving the All Blacks the advantage at the break.
But an immediate response transpired after the interval as Siya Kolisi burst over the tryline, with Pollard's conversion handing the Springboks the lead for the first time.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu extended South Africa's advantage, but McKenzie's fourth and final penalty of the encounter closed the gap once again.
However, the hosts sealed the win when Malcolm Marx powered over for a try six minutes from time to see the Springboks close in on the title.
Data Debrief: Cape Town comforts
This is the first time since 1949 that South Africa have won four straight Tests against their great rivals New Zealand.
They have also now won four straight Tests in Cape Town, and that is despite trailing at half-time in three of those four matches.
New Zealand, meanwhile, have lost three of their last four Tests, having only suffered one defeat across their previous nine matches.
Australia ease to T20I series sweep of Scotland
Australia overcame a rough start to their innings to ease to a six-wicket victory over Scotland in the teams' third T20I on Saturday, clinching a series sweep at The Grange.
Having been inspired to comprehensive victories by some expert batting from Travis Head and Josh Inglis in the first two matches of the tour, the visitors found themselves dropped to 18-2 as they chased a target of 150.
Scotland had been led by Brandon McMullen's 56 runs off 39 balls as they achieved a respectable figure despite the best efforts of Cameron Green, who finished with figures of 3-35 for the tourists.
It was also McMullen whose terrific diving catch sent Jake Fraser-McGurk walking for a duck before Head (12) swept Brad Currie's fourth-over delivery straight to George Munsey to put Australia in a spot of bother.
However, Green replicated his bowling heroics with the bat, hitting an unbeaten 62 off 39 balls to ensure Scotland's joy was short-lived.
Even the wicket of captain Mitchell Marsh, who dragged on for 31 runs from Jack Jarvis' rasping delivery in the 10th over, could not halt the tourists' momentum, and they got over the line with 23 balls to spare for just one further loss.
Data Debrief: Green shows all-round credentials
Australia's third straight victory in Edinburgh was slightly more testing than their previous two as the top order faltered, but they could count on an exceptional all-round showing from Green.
Having taken three wickets in a T20I for the very first time, he proceeded to also register his best batting performance in the format, beating his previous best of 61 versus India in 2022.
Had Scotland succeeded in setting a more challenging target, Green might have had his eyes on an even more impressive total, having slammed five sixes and two fours.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
