Rugby World Cup: Magnus Bradbury in standby limbo as Jamie Ritchie set to miss Ireland clash

Standby Magnus Bradbury can't train or travel with the Scotland World Cup squad in Japan. Picture: SRU/SNS

Not that he's been sent to purdah or anything. But as someone who is not officially part of Gregor Townsend's official 31-man Rugby World Cup squad there are tournament on rules on how much involvement he can have and how long he can stay in the country without an official call-up.

The 24-year-old flew out from Scotland to the Nagasaki holding camp as cover for Jamie Ritchie, his 23-year-old Edinburgh team-mate after he sustained a facial injury in the final warm-up against Georgia.

Ritchie subsequently did fly out but is set to miss Sunday's opening match against Ireland in Yokohama, leaving Scotland management with a decision to make.

"Magnus is still in the country at the moment. As of Saturday, when we entered the tournament formally, he has not been able to train with us but he has stayed while we wait and see how Jamie’s cheek settles," said Scotland team manager Gavin Scott in Tokyo today.

"Jamie took a greater part in training yesterday. He hadn’t done a huge amount until then, just to let his cheek settle, post-operation and post-flight.

"As we move towards the weekend and monitor the situation we will make a decision on Magnus, about what point he goes home and whether or not he stays until closer to the weekend. We’re conscious that he needs to get back to Edinburgh."

Scott gave a fuller background on the Bradbury situation as it stands.

"He is able to train on his own and watch our training, he just can’t train with us," said the manager. "There are rules about what he can do. He can stay in the hotel but he can’t travel on the buses, come to team meetings or train with us. He is not in the 31 as announced. Magnus was really cover in the initial Nagasaki phase and just to see how Jamie gets on.

"If you do call a player in there are rules about when they can actually join you. I believe it is to manage teams distant from the tournament so it is not an advantage to the home-based team to call someone in who can be there in five minutes. If you bring someone in they can train with you but they can’t play in a match until 48 hours have elapsed."

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