Philip rocked by injury woe

Instead of preparing for Friday’s Test match against Samoa and a sixth Scotland cap, Tom Philip was today left to contemplate knee reconstruction surgery and nine months of intense rehabilitation after a seemingly innocuous accident on the beach left him with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.

Philip was running in a training drill near Scotland’s Gold Coast base on Sunday when he bumped into team-mate Dan Parks.

Although there was an intense, immediate pain, that quickly subsided and there appeared to be nothing seriously amiss until Scotland’s doctor realised Philip’s knee was unusually “loose” and referred him to a specialist.

The subsequent scan showed the 20-year-old had suffered a rare form of knee injury, which involved rupturing the ligament but not damaging its protective “capsule”.

As a result, Philip had been walking pain-free around the hotel and was expecting to play before the Brisbane specialist – who had treated Andrew Mower at the World Cup last year – advised he would require a full knee reconstruction.

“It was heartbreaking to be told how serious it was. It's one thing to be going home from the tour, but quite another to be out of the game for so long,” Philip said today.

“I had an operation on my left knee to repair medial ligament damage and remove some cartilage earlier this season, and that was just five or six weeks out, but what can you do?

“A lot of stuff goes through your head about how you’ll come back from this and whether you’ll be the same player again, but there is little I can do about that at the moment.

“A few of the guys have been through this before and I’m sure Simon Taylor, who has done the same thing, will be a help to me.”

Philip will be the fourth player sent home from the tour in what Scotland’s experienced doctor James Robson described as one of the busiest weeks he could remember.

Cameron Mather’s twisted ankle and Robbie Kydd’s smashed cheekbone ruled them out of the tour, Euan Murray failed to shake a thigh injury and scrum-half Mike Blair has been carrying a shoulder concern all week.

The extent of Philip’s injury was only confirmed late yesterday and forced Williams to reshuffle his Test side, with Ben Hinshelwood now starting at outside centre.

Sean Lamont will make his international debut on the wing to cap a memorable first season in Scottish rugby.

The 23-year-old left Rotherham for Glasgow last summer and has hardly looked back, winning the Player of the Year award and now breaking into the Test squad.

“I didn’t have an inkling that I’d get this chance, but it was a very pleasant surprise to be picked,” he said.

“It’s been a great season for me. Coming to Glasgow was the best move I made.”

The inclusion of Hinshelwood and Lamont are two of six changes Williams has made from the side that lost to Ireland in March.

In the backs, kicking form earned Leeds’ Gordon Ross the fly-half jersey ahead of Dan Parks – who responded by kicking eight from eight against NSW Country.

Up front, Taylor’s injury means 21-year-old Allister Hogg switches to number eight with Donnie MacFadyen to win his third cap at openside flanker while prop Tom Smith returns from injury to the front row.

Lamont’s rise to the Test team was just the kind of development Williams hoped would come from bringing such a young and inexperienced group of players on tour.

“Sean has been in very good form for Glasgow. He has won a lot of awards there this season, and had a very good game against high quality opposition with Queensland,” said Williams.

“He has earned his place in the side. We are starting to grow a base of players who can put pressure on each other and that is what the whole programme is about.”

Scotland team to play Samoa in Wellington on Friday: C Paterson; S Lamont, B Hinshelwood, A Henderson, S Webster; G Ross, C Cusiter; T Smith, G Bulloch, B Douglas, S Grimes, S Murray (captain), J White, D MacFadyen, A Hogg.

Replacements: S Scott, C Smith, I Fullarton, J Petrie, M Blair, D Parks, H Southwell.