Darcy Graham ruled out of Scotland’s final Rugby World Cup warm-up

Scotland have been forced into a late team change in their final warm-up game for the Rugby World Cup.

Darcy Graham scored a try in Scotland's home win over France on August 5 but will miss the final World Cup warm-up match against Georgia. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Darcy Graham, the Edinburgh winger, has been ruled out with a thigh injury and will miss the game against Georgia at Murrayfield on Saturday. He will be replaced by his Glasgow Warriors counterpart, Kyle Steyn. Graham’s injury is described by Scottish Rugby as “a mild strain to his quad”. A similar issue kept full-back Blair Kinghorn out of training last week and the hope is that both players will recover in time for Scotland’s World Cup opener against South Africa in Marseille which takes place two weeks on Sunday.

Graham has been in devastating form for Scotland since recovering from the serious knee injury which caused him to miss the Six Nations. He scored two tries against Italy in the first World Cup warm-up, and another in the home win over France a week later. He was rested for the return match against the French in Saint-Etienne and was supposed to return for the Georgia fixture but his place on the right wing will now be taken by Steyn. The Glasgow captain impressed in the narrow away defeat by France, scoring two tries in a performance that saw him named man of the match.

If fit, Graham is a certain starter for Scotland at the World Cup. He is the most prolific try-scorer in the squad with 19 in 35 international appearances.