Scotland talisman Stuart Hogg is set to miss the rest of the Six Nations – and may not play again this season.
The full-back was the victim of a late tackle by Peter O’Mahony just 15 minutes into the defeat by Ireland at Murrayfield. He landed awkwardly on his shoulder and was replaced by Blair Kinghorn shortly after.
Scotland’s backroom staff have already ruled him out of the final three Six Nations come what may as his shoulder needs time to recover.
Scotland talisman Stuart Hogg is set to miss the rest of the Six Nations through injury
He sustained a shoulder injury following a late tackle from Ireland flanker Peter O’Mahony
But Sportsmail understands that the bigger concern within the Scotland camp is that Hogg may have sustained a stage-three shoulder tear which is the most severe. If that is confirmed by a scan over the next few days he is likely to need an operation.
And that would rule him out of not just the Six Nations but the rest of the season.
Such an outcome would be a massive blow for Hogg who wanted to help Glasgow Warriors to silverware before joining Exeter Chiefs over the summer.
More worryingly, if the scan confirms a stage-three shoulder tear, and he gets an operation straight away, Hogg could be in a race against time to be match fit in time for the start of the World Cup in Japan in mid-September.
Asked about the injury to the nation’s star man, head coach Gregor Townsend said after the Ireland match: ‘He’s sore, very sore. He wanted to stay on but his shoulder was not right.
Scotland boss Gregor Townsend said Hogg’s injury played a huge part in defeat by Ireland
‘We’ll see what will happen over the next few days. It was disappointing, he chipped ahead and got sandwiched between two players.
‘These things happen quickly but there was a collision there that forced him to fly over and land on the point of his shoulder.
‘It was a big moment in the game. We conceded the try a minute after that and lost one of our best players.’
Kinghorn is set to take over at full-back for Hogg against France in Paris in a fortnight with Sean Maitland and Tommy Seymour retaining their places on the wings.
And the Edinburgh man was given a ringing endorsement from his club coach Richard Cockerill after the disappointment of being dropped from the starting line-up to face Ireland despite his hat-trick in the opening game against Italy.
‘Blair can come in a do a job,’ Cockerill said this week. ‘Fifteen is where we play him and he can fit in there from the start at international level if needed no problems.’
Blair Kinghorn replaced Hogg and is likely to fill the No 15 shirt for the rest of the Six Nations
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