Scotland’s Six Nations victory over Wales comes at a cost

Scotland’s victory over Wales in their Six Nations opener in Cardiff on Saturday came at a cost as they were left to rue injuries to forward duo Richie Gray and Luke Crosbie.

The visitors’ head coach, Gregor Townsend, was thankful that his side managed to seal their 27-26 triumph – which was their first win in Cardiff since 2002 – especially as they staved off a late Welsh fightback.

Relieved to clinch victory

Scotland held a 20-0 lead at half-time and were 27-0 up early in the second half before Wales scored 26 unanswered points.

Townsend was relieved to see his team win, but was disappointed to lose Gray and Crosbie.

Gray (second-row) was forced off in the 31st minute due to a bicep injury which could rule him out of the rest of the Six Nations while Crosbie (flanker) left the field in the game’s latter stages with a damaged shoulder.

“Both are in a lot of pain,” Townsend said. “Richie and the medics knew straight away it was a bicep injury. So that doesn’t look good for this Championship.

“Luke was a shoulder injury. It’s a painful one and that might settle.

“Not for next week (against France at Murrayfield), but let’s hope he’s not done any significant damage there.”

Townsend admits that it will be difficult to replace the duo during the rest of the Championship.

Double blow

“It’s a blow to lose two players from our starting team,” he added. “Obviously someone like Richie is very experienced player for us and Luke has been outstanding this season and took the game to Wales.

“We will just have to adapt, we have Grant Gilchrist coming back from suspension and there’s a lot of competition in the back-row. I’m sure guys will be able to step up next week.”

READ MORE: Finn Russell calls out Scotland team-mates for ignoring clear instructions against Wales