Scotland dealt yet another Six Nations injury blow with player who impressed in Autumn withdrawing from squad
The back rower has sustained a groin injury and will require further assessment to determine the exact timescale for his return.
With Scotland set to kick off their 2025 Six Nations Championship at home to Italy this weekend there has been another injury blow for head coach Gregor Townsend.
Bath back rower Josh Bayliss is the later player to withdraw from the squad having sustained a groin injury playing for his club at the weekend. It is unclear if the 27-year old, who impressed during last November’s Autumn Nations Test Series in dark blue, will play any part in the upcoming tournament with the SRU confirming that he would require further assessment before a timescale for his return could be determined.
He joins skipper Sione Tuipulotu, hooker Dylan Richardson and lock Scott Cummings in being forced out of Townsend’s initial squad. Adam Hastings, Cameron Redpath and Kyle Steyn were among the players who missed out on selection completely through injury.
However, there have now been several additional call ups made to supplement the team. Arron Reed was the first player who was brought in, with Duhan van der Merwe currently a doubt for the Italy opener on Saturday, and now it has been confirmed that five more players have joined Townsend’s ranks.
Euan Ferrie, Cameron Henderson, Ewan Johnson, Alexander Masibaka and Ollie Smith have all been called up. A statement from the SRU said: “Alexander Masibaka has impressed this season in Pro D2 with French side Soyaux-Angoulême.
“The 23-year-old is currently on loan from Montpellier having previously played for the Western Force. Born and raised in Western Australia, he plays across the back-row and qualifies for Scotland through his Paisley born mother. Uncapped Euan Ferrie was a member of the URC winning Glasgow Warriors squad last season and has previously trained with the national team.
“Cameron Henderson made his debut for Scotland in 2023 against Italy before sustaining a knee injury at the end of the year. He has since bounced back, playing well and consistently for Leicester Tigers recently. Ewan Johnson made his debut on Scotland’s summer tour last year, in a 73-12 victory over Canada. The Oyonnax second-row also made his first appearance at Scottish Gas Murrayfield against Portugal in 2024 and played in the Scotland A victory over Chile at the end of the year.
“Ollie Smith made his long-awaited comeback in a Glasgow Warriors jersey at the weekend in their win over Connacht and caps off his return from injury with a call-up to the Scotland squad after playing for Emerging Scotland at the tail end of last year.”
Scotland are set to kick off their 2025 Six Nations this Saturday as Italy travel to Murrayfield for a 2:15pm kick off. It will be the second of three matches this weekend with France and Wales getting the competition started in Paris on Friday night before Ireland and England round things off immediately after the Scotland game in Dublin.
Scotland’s second match will be at home to the Irish on Sunday, February 9th followed by a weekend off and then a trip to Twickenham to once again contest the Calcutta Cup against old foes England. Another weekend off is then followed by the visit of Wales to Murrayfield and finally a trip to Paris to take on France in the closing game of the tournament.