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Scotland hit by Rugby World Cup injury scare

France's wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey (L) fights for the ball Scotland's scrum-half Ben White (R) during the Pre-World Cup Friendly Rugby Union match between Scotland and France at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland, on August 5, 2023. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Scotland’s Rugby World Cup hopes may have just suffered a major blow as scrumhalf Ben White was forced off the field during their Summer Nations Series clash with France at Murrayfield.

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White went down in clear pain after a heavy collision, and initial indications pointed to a lower limb injury of some sort. White’s potential absence will be a cause of concern for head coach Gregor Townsend, as he is regarded by many as Scotland’s first-choice scrumhalf.

French winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey caught White in the jaw with a swinging arm as the scrumhalf went to ground, but referee Ben O’Keeffe didn’t refer it to TMO and the game played on.

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White could be seen limping off before later punching the bench in frustration as he sported bandages around his ankle.

In Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match, Finn Russell assumed the captaincy for Scotland for the first time. Despite fielding a near-first-choice XV against a second-string French side, Scotland encountered challenges. They made 13 changes to the team that secured victory against Italy, with most of their key players returning to action.

Compounding their worries, skipper Jamie Ritchie was absent due to a minor calf injury. The medical staff remains hopeful that he will recover in time for the rematch between the two teams in Saint Etienne next weekend.

Meanwhile, the French team showed their strength in depth with three debutants, including the impressive Bielle-Biarrey, who played a pivotal role in setting up a scintillating try for Baptiste Couilloud.

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SK 16 minutes ago
'The Wallabies only have themselves to blame': How the Lions sunk Australia in Melbourne

Having taken a 23-5 lead it was important to manage the game from there but Australia just couldnt do it. Conceding two tries before the break surrendering 12 points in the way they did was incredibly poor. The penalty for going in the side at the breakdown was just silly and allowed the Lions to get up field when 23-10 and some of the play in the 10 minutes before half time on defence was really not up to scratch. The Lions side has played in patches. They are not consistent and by no means have hit top form throughout this tour. When they have been in 5th gear the Aussies have had no answer and so it was the case in the last 20mins. The lack of game management comes directly down to an inexperienced backline, bad leadership, poor selection, a lack of killer instinct in a team desperately searching for gains against top opposition. They were underdone and should have had more warm up matches. The Wallabies spent the whole of last year improving the team and developing combinations to compete against the Lions. Schmidts selections has somehow seemingly countered his own preparation. After working so hard last year to improve the Wallabies have somehow come out like half-baked cookie, limp in most parts, crunchy in others but overall, an inconsistent texture and underwhelming taste that makes you wonder what could have been had you left it in for 5mins longer.

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