Scotland have been dealt a major blow ahead of the autumn internationals, with record try-scorer Darcy Graham ruled out through injury.
The Edinburgh winger is facing at least 12 weeks on the sidelines after suffering a ruptured bicep, meaning he will miss Scotland’s November Tests against New Zealand, Australia and Japan.
Graham, 29, has scored an incredible 38 tries in 57 appearances for his country and is Scotland’s all-time leading try-scorer.
However, Gregor Townsend will now have to plan without one of his biggest attacking threats for the remainder of the Nations Championship.
“Not good news”
Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt confirmed the extent of Graham’s injury, describing the incident which caused it as “pretty freakish”.
Everitt said: “That’s not good news for us and not good news for him, especially with the autumn series coming up.”
The expected 12-week recovery period would keep Graham out for the entirety of Scotland’s November programme.
Scotland’s autumn fixtures
Scotland resume their Nations Championship campaign against New Zealand at Murrayfield on 7 November.
Townsend’s men then welcome Australia to Edinburgh before completing their regular fixtures against Japan the following weekend.
The inaugural competition will conclude with a finals weekend at Twickenham on 27 and 28 November, when the northern and southern hemisphere teams will face off based on their final standings.
Scotland head into the autumn in a strong position after an encouraging summer.
They recorded victories over Argentina and Fiji, with their only defeat coming in a 42-28 loss against South Africa.
Those results leave Townsend’s side sitting second behind France in the northern hemisphere standings.
Graham’s absence, however, leaves Scotland without one of their most reliable finishers for three huge Tests at Murrayfield.
The winger has become a central figure in Townsend’s backline and his record of 38 tries from just 57 Tests underlines the attacking threat Scotland will have to replace this autumn.
