Finn Russell was told he would not be selected to face Ireland in Scotland’s Six Nations opener after he failed to show up for Monday’s training session following a late-night drinking session.

STATEMENT | Scotland team spokesperson: “Stand-off Finn Russell will play no further part in preparations for Scotland’s Six Nations opener against Ireland, having been disciplined for a breach of team protocol during the week’s camp in Edinburgh. He has returned to his club." — Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) January 23, 2020

Russell’s participation in the tournament is in serious doubt after he turned down an offer to stay in camp. The 27-year-old arrived in Edinburgh on Sunday after travelling from London where he had been in action for Racing 92 against Saracens. He spent the evening drinking in the team’s hotel but when approached by teammates and members of Scotland’s backroom staff declined to stop and later left to return to his parents’ home in Stirling.

Russell missed training the next morning but did report later. He was then told he would not be selected for duty against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday week. Townsend left it open to the 49-cap stand-off to decide whether he wanted to stay in Edinburgh but Russell decided to return to Paris.

Adam Hastings is now almost certain to wear the No 10 jersey against Ireland but Townsend may look for reinforcements with no other regular stand-offs in his squad, although the full-back Stuart Hogg played there earlier in his career and the Northampton centre Rory Hutchinson can also play in the position.

Glasgow’s Pete Horne, who won his 46th cap at the World Cup, was a notable omission from the original squad, while Duncan Weir is playing regularly for Worcester, having not represented his country since 2017.

David Sole, the former Scotland captain, called for the reasons for Russell’s exclusion to be made public. “What a shame that this has happened,” he wrote on Twitter. “The primacy of the team has to come first but this ‘breach of team protocol’ must be pretty cataclysmic to warrant Russell’s exclusion.”