Scotland centre Alex Dunbar may be facing nine months on the sidelines
Thursday 12 March 2015 19:21, UK
The Scottish Rugby Union has announced that centre Alex Dunbar will be out for six to nine months with a ruptured cruciate ligament.
The 24-year-old Glasgow Warriors man suffered the injury in a training ground accident and is now in danger of missing the World Cup, which gets underway on September 18.
Dunbar would have featured against England in Saturday’s Calcutta Cup match at Twickenham but he fell to the turf clutching his knee during the team's final training session at Murrayfield before they flew south.
He was rushed to the nearby Spire Murrayfield Hospital for a scan but the results confirmed Scotland head coach Vern Cotter's worst fears.
The SRU released a statement on Thursday which read: “The Scotland medical team today confirmed that Glasgow Warriors centre Alex Dunbar is out for the rest of the season through injury.
“Dunbar was set to start for the national team against England in this Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash at Twickenham when he injured his knee a few hours before the team's departure from BT Murrayfield.
“A scan at Spire Murrayfield Hospital later in the morning revealed he has ruptured his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) requiring surgery and around six to nine months rest and rehabilitation.
“Scottish Rugby would like to thank the superb professionalism of the Spire Murrayfield Hospital MRI staff, and consultant radiologist Dr Scott McKie, for the support and help in what was a time-pressured situation.”
Speaking before the full extent of the injury was confirmed, Cotter had said: "Alex was in a bit of discomfort.
"He just went down on his own, it was a change of direction and then he went down. It's very unfortunate and he's
obviously upset.
"He will miss this Calcutta Cup game and we're hoping it's only a minor injury, we will have to wait and see. My worst fear is that it could be an ACL. Hopefully it's not.
"If it is an ACL, it will be a fine cut (for Dunbar to make the World Cup), but they are pretty good at getting these types of injuries back, if that is the case.
"It's not as severe as it used to be but certainly it would be a set back for Alex."
Matt Scott will line up in the Scotland midfield against England in place of Dunbar, who has been capped 14 times by his country.
