Injured MacArthur heading home
A knee injury has ruled Scotland hooker Pat MacArthur out of the remaining two weeks of the four-nation tournament in South Africa.
He limped off just five minutes into his Test debut against Samoa at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday, a match the Pacific Islanders won 27-17 to stake an early claim for a final place.
As MacArthur flew home, his teammates moved to north-eastern city Nelspruit for a June 15 Test against South Africa, who defeated Italy 44-10 in the other first-round game.
A Scottish official told reporters the Durban match had taken a heavy toll on his team with more than a dozen players receiving treatment and several had potentially tour-ending injuries.
Among the casualties of a clash with the physically huge Samoans are captain and flank Kelly Brown, No.8 Johnnie Beattie, prop Geoff Cross, flyhalf Tom Heathcote and centre Alex Dunbar.
There was some cheer for interim head coach Scott Johnson as prop Jon Welsh arrived in South Africa to replace Ryan Grant, called up by the British and Irish Lions as a replacement on the tour of Australia.
AFP
