Why WP Nel is key man as Scotland sweat on Zander Fagerson ban

Scotland's WP Nel at full time after the 25-21 win over France at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

There were so many positives in the way Scotland fought back from being 21-3 down at half-time to beat France 25-21 but the gnawing takeaway from Murrayfield on Saturday is the potential loss of Zander Fagerson for the Rugby World Cup opener against South Africa on September 10.

The tighthead prop’s red card for making contact with the head of the France hooker Pierre Bourgarit at a ruck clear-out means he can expect to be summoned to a disciplinary hearing this week where he is likely to be suspended. The big question is, for how long? This is not Fagerson’s first offence. He was sent off against Wales in the Six Nations in 2021 for a similar transgression and on that occasion the disciplinary committee decided it warranted a six-week suspension which it reduced by two weeks to take account of mitigating factors which included “his admission of foul play, good disciplinary record and remorse”. The player then lodged an appeal which was dismissed, although the games covered by the four-match suspension were changed to include Glasgow matches which meant Fagerson was able to return to the Scotland side for the end of the Six Nations.

The Scotland management team found the disciplinary and appeals process to be fairly bruising and there may be a temptation this time to say sorry and take the medicine. The “mitigating factors” part of the hearing is going to be crucial here and Fagerson’s previous red card is likely to count against his having a “good disciplinary record”.

Scotland have two more warm-up matches to play before the World Cup, against France in Saint-Etienne on Saturday night and Georgia at Murrayfield on August 26, and any suspension would cover those games. So if Fagerson were to be banned for three matches he would miss the two warm-ups and the World Cup clash against the Springboks in Marseille. A four-game ban would also take in their second Pool B match, against Tonga in Nice on September 24. Anything more stringent and the third and fourth World Cup group games, against Romania on September 30 and Ireland on October 7, could also be affected.

Given Fagerson plays in such a specialised position, Townsend is keen to hear as soon as possible how long he is likely to be without his first choice tighthead. “We need to know before we play next week,” said the coach. “That’s just the proper process. We’ve got a decision to make about who plays next week. We’ve then got decisions to make in terms of who goes in the squad to the World Cup. There will obviously be knock-on effects if there is a ban to Zander, if that ban is more than two weeks. Would we take an extra front-rower? We would just have to weigh that up and see what the length of the ban is.”

WP Nel, seemingly indestructible at 37, came on to play at tighthead after Fagerson’s initial yellow card was upgraded to red via the new foul play review system. Nel would almost certainly start against South Africa if Fagerson is unavailable and Townsend believes the veteran is in a good place. “Physically, this is the best shape he’s been in probably for the past 10 years,” the coach said. “Key to that has been his motivation. Players who wants to keep playing, they keep making sacrifices. Richie Gray is another player who has shown that. WP has lost five or six kilos. That takes lifestyle changes. He still has the same speed, and he clearly has the knowledge around the scrum. So if you’re in that sort of physical shape, whether you’re 37 or 27, you can play as good rugby as you’ve ever played.”

After Fagerson and Nel, there is a distinct lack of experience. Murphy Walker and Javan Sebastian, the other two tightheads in the squad, have three and four caps each. Walker played in the first warm-up game, against Italy - his first start for Scotland - and Sebastian replaced him in the second half. All four of Sebastian’s caps have come off the bench. “It is what it is,” said Townsend. “Murphy did very well last week and so did Javan. Javan pushed Italy off the ball on two occasions. Those players have been working really closely with Pieter de Villiers [Scotland’s scrum coach] and they’ve been training against some very good looseheads.”

Facing the fearsome Springboks front row in the World Cup is a different matter. On the plus side, Townsend will take great heart from the way Scotland played with 14 men. Two of their three tries were scored when Fagerson was off and a casual observer would have struggled to tell which side was short-handed. Cam Redpath, the replacement centre, joined the Scotland scrum towards the end as they repelled the last desperate French attacks, with Rory Darge, another sub, winning the final memorable turnover.

Referee Ben O'Keeffe brandishes the red card to denote that the Foul Play Review Officer had decided Scotland's Zander Fagerson's offence was worthy of a dismissal. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

The contribution from the bench pleased Townsend as did the way his team scored 22 unanswered points in the second half, retrieving a dire looking situation. France, in their first outing of the season, had picked a largely experimental side but, after going behind early to a Finn Russell penalty, they took a grip of the first half by scoring three fine tries through Baptiste Couilloud, debutant Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Cameron Woki, all converted by Mathieu Jallabert. A revitalised Scotland came out firing after the break and Darcy Graham nipped in ahead of France wing Ethan Dumortier to score after a delightful cross-kick from Russell. With Fagerson in the sin-bin awaiting news of his fate, Pierre Schoeman used his strength to force his way over before replacement hooker Dave Cherry finished off a lineout drive for what turned out to be the winning try. Russell, who seemed to revel in his first outing as Scotland captain, added another penalty having also converted the first two tries.

Scorers: Scotland: Tries: Graham, Schoeman, Cherry. Cons: Russell 2. Pens: Russell 2.

France: Tries: Couilloud, Bielle-Biarrey, Woki. Cons: Jalibert 3.

Red card: Z Fagerson (Sco, 50min)

Darcy Graham nips in ahead of France wing Ethan Dumortier to score Scotland's first try at Murrayfield. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Scotland: B Kinghorn; D Graham, H Jones, S Tuipulotu (C Redpath 60), D van der Merwe; F Russell (c), B White (G Horne 30); P Schoeman (J Bhatti 60), E Ashman (Cherry 60), Z Fagerson, R Gray, G Gilchrist (S Cummings 72), M Fagerson, H Watson (R Darge 60), J Dempsey (WP Nel 60). Replacement not used: O Smith.

France: B Dulin; L Bielle-Biarrey, E Gailleton, Y Moefana, E Dumortier (A Vincent 58); M Jalibert (A Hastoy 62), B Couilloud (B Serin 69); J Gros (R Wardi 55), P Bourgarit (P Mauvaka 55), D Bamba (S Falatea 45), C Woki, B Chalureau (P Willemse 55), P Boudehent, S Macalou (D Cretin 55), Y Tanga.

Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZ).

Attendance: 56,246.