Scotland lose Grant Gilchrist for opening Six Nations game

Scotland have lost their talismanic second row Grant Gilchrist for the opening Six Nations match in Wales due to suspension, but they will be relieved he misses just one game.

The Edinburgh lock was shown two yellow cards in Saturday’s EPCR Challenge Cup win over Scarlets, which meant he was shown a red by referee Sara Cox for the second offence. Both cards were shown for what the referee considered dangerous tackles, and rather than a disciplinary panel determining Gilchrist’s punishment, independent Judicial Officer Gareth Graham considered the case on a papers-only basis and backed the referee’s decisions and issued a one-week ban. He added that Gilchrist’s acceptance of the charge and full co-operation with the disciplinary process would usually provide mitigation to reduce the ban, but that he could not issue a suspension less than one week.

The 33-year-old has become a mainstay of the current Scotland team again, but missed the last two games of the 2023 championship after receiving a red card against France. There was a fear among Scotland supporters that that could lead to a longer ban this time, but as this instance was two yellow cards rather than a straight red it did not.

With no Edinburgh match this week, Scotland accepted that the next game Gilchrist could play in was their opening Six Nations’ match with Wales on 3 February, and so the ban will run until 4 February, meaning he will be free to play against France at Murrayfield on 10 February.

Scotland have decent competition at lock with Richie Gray, Scott Cummings and Glen Young now the likely trio to fill the starting and bench places in Cardiff, depending on the fitness of Sam Skinner who returned from injury at Edinburgh in recent weeks.