EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Scotland rugby star Finn Russell has passed return-to-play protocols after a nasty clash of heads with a teammate and will start the Six Nations match against England on Saturday.
Russell and winger Darcy Graham collided in an attempt to tackle Ireland scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park in the first half at Murrayfield on Feb. 9.
Russell was able to walk off and passed a head check but then showed concussion symptoms and remained withdrawn from the match. Graham was worse off. He was taken to hospital as a precaution and released that night.
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend said Russell was healthy enough to return to the team but Graham has been left out.
“They’ve both been training really well, they’ve gone through the right protocols and they’ve passed every stage,” Townsend said. “Finn, we felt, was symptom-free much earlier and obviously didn’t have as much of a head knock as Darcy did.
“Darcy is progressing really well. He’s had no symptoms now for a few days. He’s on to the next stage of his training but we just felt this week was too early to do full contact so we’re giving him that extra week to recover.”
Scotland is looking to beat England for the fifth straight year in the Six Nations and rebound from losing to Ireland 32-18. It is the oldest international fixture in rugby.
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
The Associated Press
