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Scotland suffered a huge double injury injury before the six nations with Captain Sione Tuipulotu and Lock Scott Cummings, both left the tournament.
The Tuipulotu center led Gregor Townsend’s team with distinction during the fall and was appointed to drive them in this campaign, but underwent a pectoral muscle injury to training with Glasgow Warriors last week.
And after missing the defeat of the Glasgow Champions Cup in Harlequins, the 27 -year -old will undergo surgery and will miss the championship.
Cummings of the second row was removed with an arm injury to Twickenham Stoop on Saturday, with analyzes confirming a fracture. It is also likely to miss all the six nations.
Rory Darge and Finn Russell reassess the tasks as co-capital in the absence of a tuipulotu having played the role last year.
Tuipulotu injuries are enormous with the back of Australian origin having established as one of the best centers in the world in the last 18 months.
He would have hoped to push his file for the selection in the team of the British and Irish Lions of Andy Farrell, for which he always looks like a strong competitor.
Cummings could also have emerged as an option for Farrell to have formed an excellent partnership in the boiler room with Grant Gilchrist in recent years. Townsend can, at least, call on a return from Jonny Gray to this campaign, but will miss the physics of Cummings.
No replacement of injury was called to this stage with the Scottish head coach nominating a team of 37 players last week.
Scotland opens its home tournament in Italy in Murrayfield on Saturday, February 1.
