Scotland have called up lock Tim Swinson to train with their wider squad after injury ruled Sam Skinner out of their 2019 Rugby World Cup plans.
Swinson has not featured for Scotland since last summer when he started their impressive win over Argentina in Resistencia.
He will have to move mountains to force himself into World Cup contention for Gregor Townsend’s 31-man squad at this late stage with the likes of Jonny Gray, Grant Gilchrist, Scott Cummings and Ben Toolis all ahead of him in the second row pecking order.
But Exeter Chief Skinner’s World Cup dreams are at an end.
The lock, who can also cover blindside, suffered a hamstring injury on Saturday in Scotland’s warm-up win over France at BT Murrayfield.
And a Scotland statement on Tuesday revealed the injury was serious enough to rule him out of a potential trip to Japan.
The statement read: “(Skinner) sustained a hamstring injury in the national team’s 17-14 win over France at BT Murrayfield on Saturday.
“Skinner had the muscle scanned at Spire Murrayfield Hospital on the evening of the match, with the time taken to recover deemed insufficient to play a meaningful part in Scotland’s Rugby World Cup 2019 campaign.”
