By Harry Mottram: It looked fairly innocuous but on the replay it was an ‘ouch’ moment when Bath Rugby’s Finn Russell collided with Darcy Graham in a clash of heads. The incident in the 21st minute of the Six Nations clash at Murrayfield happened when Ireland were bossing the game against Scotland and leading by seven points.
There will be concerns in Bath for their Scottish player whose ability to keep teams in a game with his kicking could be out for longer than the rest of the match that saw Ireland go on to win by 18-32.
Tom English, BBC Scotland’s chief sports writer at Murrayfield explained what happened for the Scots who were struggling to contain the men in green: “Some defensive resistance was all the Scots had, but even then they didn’t have it for long. A difficult day became a nightmarish one early in the second quarter when Russell and Graham ran into each other in their desperation to halt Jamison Gibson Park and took themselves out of the game. Russell did not reappear after an HIA and Graham was taken away on a stretcher. Two critical operators, gone. And then three more points for Prendergast to boot.”
Meanwhile on Saturday Bath overcame Ampthill in the cup by 50-7. They next play Bristol in the competition.
Six Nations:
Scotland (5) 18
Tries: Van der Merwe, White Cons: Kinghorn Pens: Kinghorn 2
Ireland (17) 32
Tries: Nash, Doris, Lowe, Conan Cons: Prendergast 3 Pens: Prendergast 2
Fixtures:
Friday January 31
France 43-0 Wales
Saturday February 1
Scotland 31-19 Italy
Ireland 27-22 England
Saturday February 8
Italy 22-15 Wales
England 26-25 France
Sunday February 9
Scotland 18-32 Ireland
Saturday February 22
Wales vs Ireland (2.15pm)
England vs Scotland (4.45pm)
Sunday February 23
Italy vs France (3pm)
Saturday March 8
Ireland vs France (2.15pm)
Scotland vs Wales (4.45pm)
Sunday March 9
England vs Italy (3pm)
Saturday March 15
Italy vs Ireland (2.15pm)
Wales vs England (4.45pm)
France vs Scotland (8pm)