Scotland call up player from second tier in France
Australia-born number eight Alex Masibaka, who plays for Angouleme in the second tier of French rugby, has received a shock call-up to Scotland's Six Nations squad.The unheralded forward replaces Josh Bayliss, who is expected to miss the tournament after being added to the growing list of unavailable players when he was injured playing for Bath on Sunday.The 23-year-old - with a mother from Paisley and a father from Fiji - was born in Perth and played briefly for Western Force before being signed by Montpellier in 2022.The Pro 14 club loaned him the following campaign to French Pro D2 side Angouleme, where he has remained this season. Masibaka, who is 6ft 1in and 18st, has scored 12 tries in 30 games for the club in south-west France.Scotland's management have been tracking him since 2021 and want a closer look at his power and ball-carrying game.Their interest in Masibaka grew with the injury to Bayliss, who was so impressive in the autumn Tests. Head coach Gregor Townsend has Jack Dempsey and Jack Mann as his number eights in the squad but was limited in his other options when looking for a replacement for Bayliss.
Magnus Bradbury is serving a suspension, the impressive Ben Muncaster is injured while the other eligible players in that position are raw youngsters.Bayliss' withdrawal means Townsend has now lost for the entire tournament four of the original squad he named on 15 January - Sione Tuipulotu, Dylan Richardson, Scott Cummings and now Bayliss. Before he named that squad he was already without Kyle Steyn, Adam Hastings, Max Williamson, Andy Christie and Muncaster. The majority of those nine players would be either certainties for the starting XV or likely to be in the matchday squad.There is also a concern over Jonny Gray, who has only played three games since the end of October and none since the middle of December.The lock was expected to make his comeback on Saturday against Lyon but Bordeaux deemed him unfit to play. He may recover in time to face Italy on Saturday, but there has to be a concern about his sharpness for the intensity of the Six Nations after being out for so long.Townsend is likely to draft in cover at second row in what is an increasingly challenging preamble to his eighth Six Nations as coach.
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