Scotland lock Sam Skinner out of 2019 Rugby World Cup

Tim Swinson has been called up to train with Scotland after Sam Skinner was ruled out of the World Cup.

The Exeter Chiefs lock limped off the pitch in last Saturday’s 17-14 win over France.

Scans ordered by the team’s medical staff have since shown the timeline for Skinner’s recovery will not come soon enough for him to be present in Japan.

A statement released by Scotland, read: “[Sam] Skinner had the muscle scanned at Spire Murrayfield Hospital on the evening of the match, with the time taken to recover deemed insufficient to play a meaningful part in Scotland’s Rugby World Cup 2019 campaign.”

Glasgow Warriors second row Tim Swinson will have a short window to impress head coach Gregor Townsend, who names his 31-man squad for the World Cup on 3 September.

Swinson, capped on 38 occasions, is preferred by Townsend to Toulouse-based Richie Gray who remains out of the picture for Japan.

The former British & Irish Lion, 30, last represented his country in the 2018 Six Nations against Italy.

Scotland head to Tbilisi to play Georgia on Saturday before facing the Lelos again in a corresponding fixture at Murrayfield a week later, by which time the squad for Japan will have been determined.

Hearing Richie Gray turned down the opportunity to join up with scotland World Cup training squad when Sam skinner got injured due to family reasons

— Rob Robertson (@SDM_Robertson) August 27, 2019