Scotland Six Nations: Adam Hastings and Will Hurd injury blow, call-up for Northampton Saints player

Scotland have suffered a double injury blow to their squad ahead of the Guinness Six Nations.

Elliot Millar-Mills of Northampton Saints has been called into the Scotland squad. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Adam Hastings, the Gloucester stand-off, is out with a knee injury and Will Hurd, the uncapped Leicester Tigers prop, is out with a foot injury. Elliot Millar-Mills, the Northampton Saints tighthead, has been called up to replace Hurd.

Hastings, 27, was injured while playing in Gloucester’s victory over Castres in the Challenge Cup at Kingsholm on Friday night. He scored a try in the 35-5 win. A statement from his club said: “Hastings will consult with a specialist later this week to understand the extent of the injury before continuing his rehabilitation with the Gloucester Rugby medical staff.”

The uncapped Miller-Mills qualifies through his Scottish mother and joined the squad on Monday. The 31-year-old 121kg tighthead began his playing career with Stockport and Macclesfield, before a brief stint with Edinburgh. He then joined Wasps in the summer of 2021 and made 21 appearances in all competitions, before joining Northampton at the start of the season. His sister Bridget represented the Scotland women’s national team.

Hastings’ withdrawal is particularly unfortunate. The fly-half has been blighted by injury since his last Scotland appearance, against Fiji in November 2022, but made his comeback recently for Gloucester and impressed enough to win an international recall. Hastings’ absence leaves Finn Russell and Ben Healy as the remaining two stand-offs in Gregor Townsend’s squad.

Meanwhile, prop Javan Sebastian and scrum-half Jamie Dobie have been training with the Scotland squad as they continue their recovery from injury.