Glasgow Warriors heartened by Sione Tuipulotu injury progress as five Scotland players back for Scarlets trip

Glasgow defence coach Pete Murchie has revealed that Sione Tuipulotu is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation from a knee injury.

The Scotland centre damaged his MCL (medial collateral ligament) in the Calcutta Cup win over England last month. The injury didn’t require surgery but Warriors head coach Franco Smith expected the damage caused would keep the player sidelined for between two to three months. That would have ruled Tuipulotu out of the remainder of the regular season but now Murchie has offered hope that the Scotland vice-captain could be back long before then.

He said: “He’s doing well. He’s running, looking strong and seems confident around it. It’s still to be determined [when he will be back] but he’s looking positive. You don’t want to get too far ahead and start to jinx things. But he’s ahead of schedule given the previous timeframe [of around May or June].”

Sione Tuipulotu injured his knee playing for Scotland against England in the Six Nations.

There was no fresh update on Huw Jones, who required surgery last week on a finger injury, but Murchie revealed that Warriors should have the rest of their international players – including Zander Fagerson, George Turner, Scott Cummings, Rory Darge and Kyle Rowe – available for selection for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship match away to Scarlets. He added: “We had some guys who weren’t in last week who are back and some guys who played last week who won’t be available this week. So it’s about managing that process on a case by case basis. Ultimately we’ll have everyone back soon which will be good.”