Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw is out of the three-match Autumn Test series after suffering his second major injury this year.
The 32-year-old British Lion, who has 58 caps, damaged his ankle during club Clermont-Ferrand’s European Rugby Champions Cup match with ospreys in Swansea at the weekend and will be out for a period of up to 12 weeks.
Laidlaw missed three full games of the Six Nations after a similar injury sustained against France in Paris in February. It means that after a virtually injury-free international career, the Jedburgh man will complete 2017 having played only one full game for Scotland.
He had been involved in discussions with Townsend and the head coach had indicated he would be the captain when the squad convened for the November tests.
While Glasgow Warriors’ Ali Price will most likely cover Laidlaw’s absence in the scrum-half slot as he did with some success during the Six Nations and the summer tour, the question of who will lead Scotland during Townsend’s first matches at BT Murrayfield is now up in the air.
John Barclay took over the reins after Laidlaw’s injury in the spring but has been to send by his club Scarlets to see a specialist about a concussion and his participation in November has to be in some doubt.
Townsend also has a number of doubts about key men heading towards November, with hooker Fraser Brown likely to be out for a spell again after suffering an ankle injury against Exeter in the Champions Cup on Saturday. Brown was only just back from recovering from a shoulder problem.
Centre Alex Dunbar has been missing with a leg problem while Richie Gray has not played this season in France due to a back problem.
On the plus side for the national coach, Jonny Gray has made a successful return from surgery in the last couple of weeks and Stuart Hogg is expected to play some part in Glasgow’s ERCC game against Leinster at Scotstoun on Saturday.
Scotland play Samoa (November 11), New Zealand (November 18) and Australia (November 25), all at BT Murrayfield, in this year’s Autumn tests.
