Strokosch and Brown head home after injury

Scotland flanker Alasdair Strokosch leaves the filed on a stretcher. Picture: SNS

Strokosch was stretchered from the field after taking a blow to his shoulder/neck but after a precautionary visit to a local hospital returned to the team hotel. “He will require a short period of recovery for soft-tissue injuries,” explained Scotland team doctor, James Robson.

Brown suffered damage to his left arm/shoulder and will now return home to the care of his club medical team. Although both had been scheduled to leave the tour at this juncture, Scotland management were assessing whether they would travel to Argentina for Friday’s Test, before injury ruled them out. The London Irish back-row duo, Kieran Low and Blair Cowan, and their new club colleague at prop, Geoff Cross, who all featured as substitutes in the narrow win, will now travel on with Gordon Reid, Pat MacArthur, Kevin Bryce, Moray Low, Grant Gilchrist, Tim Swinson, Grayson Hart, Peter Horne, Sean Maitland and Stuart Hogg to Argentina.

Meanwhile, Scott Lawson has admitted Scotland were below their best during the win against Canada, where they needed a Greig Laidlaw penalty eight minutes from time to seal victory.

Coach Vern Cotter was left with much to ponder in only his second game in charge and hooker Lawson conceded that Scotland made too many errors as the hosts put them under intense pressure. He said: “They [Canada] were everything we expected. They play at pace and have some really good athletes. They really try to play rugby and have some game breakers and did manage to break us down a couple of times.

“On the whole, though, we held firm, especially in that second half.”