In a poignant moment, Stuart McInally bid farewell to the Scotland squad after Sunday’s triumph against Tonga.
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The seasoned hooker was compelled to withdraw from the World Cup due to a neck injury, a little over a week after receiving a last-minute call-up.
Edinburgh’s 33-year-old forward, who had previously revealed his post-tournament plans to embark on a new career as an airline pilot, has been replaced by Glasgow’s Johnny Matthews in the team.
“Right now he is very emotional,” said Townsend.
“He got a presentation in the changing room from the players and (long-time Scotland and Edinburgh team-mate) Grant Gilchrist gave him a fantastic speech.
” It’s a very emotional time for all of us, especially Stuart.
“To get the news on Saturday that he wasn’t going to recover in time from a neck injury he picked up in training is so disappointing for him. We all thought this would be a great way for him to end his career, coming out and getting his 50th cap and contributing to our World Cup career.
“That was something he deserved and had earned given what he had put into that jersey over his career and what he has put in over the last three months.
“It’s just bad luck – it wasn’t even an injury in the session, it was more that at the end of the session he felt pain in his neck. He didn’t recover for two days and we had him scanned on Saturday, to see if there was a bigger issue, which there is.”
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TIER ONE NATIONS RANKED BY NO. OF FOREIGN-BORN PLAYERS:
Scotland (15)
WP Nel (South Africa), Pierre Schoeman (South Africa), Javan Sebastian (England), Ewan Ashman (Canada), Sam Skinner (England), Jack Dempsey (Australia), Hamish Watson (England), Ali Price (England), Ben White (England), Ben Healy (Ireland), Chris Harris (England), Cameron Redpath (France), Sione Tuipulotu (Australia), Kyle Steyn (South Africa), Duhan van der Merwe (South Africa).
Italy (11)
Ivan Nemer (Argentina), Hame Faiva (New Zealand), Dino Lamb (England), David Sisi (Germany), Toa Halafihi (New Zealand), Sebastian Negri (Zimbabwe), Martin Page-Relo (France), Juan Ignacio Brex (Argentina), Ange Capuozzo (France), Monty Ioane (Australia), Paolo Odogwu (England),
Wales (10)
Taulupe Faletau (Tonga), Tomas Francis (England), Dan Lydiate (England), Will Rowlands (England), Henry Thomas (England), Christ Tshiunza (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Gareth Anscombe (New Zealand), George North (England), Nick Tompkins (England), Johnny Williams (England),