World Cup woe for Hall
PA Sport
July 25, 2007

Scotland hooker Dougie Hall has been ruled out of the World Cup after sustaining a serious knee injury in training.

The 26-year-old former Edinburgh player, who has secured a return to his former club Glasgow Warriors for next season, tore medial ligaments in his left knee during training on Monday.

Scotland team doctor James Robson said: ``Following the injury at training, we arranged for Dougie to go for a scan, the results of which we received last night.

``The scan confirmed our initial diagnosis that he has torn his medial ligament and sustained some additional minor damage to the joint.

``We will now embark on further assessment and treatment but the average recovery time for this type of injury is 12-16 weeks.''

Scotland launch their World Cup campaign on September 9, with a Group C match in Saint-Etienne against Portugal. Italy, New Zealand and Romania are in the same group.

Head coach Frank Hadden does have cover for Hall in his squad, with Ross Ford and Scott Lawson on his provisional list.

Glasgow's 23-year-old Scotland A player Fergus Thomson was called up today to give Hadden a third option.

Hadden said: ``It's obviously disappointing news for Dougie and I wish him a speedy recovery.

``He has made enormous progress in the last couple of years and been integral to the national squad in that time.''

Hall, with 19 caps, has established himself as Scotland's first-choice hooker and was looking forward to taking an active role in a World Cup for the first time.

He travelled as a member of the 2003 squad to Australia but played no part on the pitch.

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices