GREGOR Townsend has admitted that he may be unable to release any Scotland squad members back to Glasgow and Edinburgh during the Nations Cup, in a development that, along with PRO14’s decision to play games on a Monday, is likely to hamper the hopes of both teams to recover from their indifferent starts to the season.

Three players - WP Nel, Nick Haining and Jamie Bhatti - were freed by the national coach to turn out for Edinburgh against Scarlets last Sunday, and Nel was named man of the match in the gritty 6-3 win. The Warriors, meanwhile, were given eight returning Scotland squad members for their home game against Leinster on Monday, and used seven in the 32-19 defeat. The eighth, Richie Gray, was left out because of concussion.

As both those games came after Scotland’s win against Wales, the national coach knew who he could safely release. But this week Glasgow and Edinburgh are playing tomorrow, five days before Scotland’s game against Italy, making it far more difficult for Townsend to juggle the needs of his squad with those of the pro teams.

Asked in midweek if he would feel able to release players, he replied: “Not really. We’ve been doing it in the last few weeks, but the move to the Monday nights makes things problematic for us, given that our big training days are Mondays and Tuesdays.

“No players would be able to train with us if they were playing for their clubs on the Monday. And in terms of minimising the risk of the virus spreading between squads or within our squad, we’re taking the decision that it will be less likely that players will be released back.

“Last week we released 11 players, and at the same time Wales released zero and Ireland two. We have been making players available, but as we’re more cautious around the virus spreading, and the fact the games are on Mondays, that’s going to be unlikely over the next few weeks.

“We know how quickly the virus can spread within camps. We’ve seen it with Wasps, Sale and lots of clubs in France. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen to us in this period. If we lost two or three players in the front five, it would make things much tougher as we play these Test matches.”

Gray and his Glasgow team-mates Rob Harley and Ratu Tagive were the only players to be omitted from the revamped squad announced by Townsend for the Nations Cup on Thursday. The Warriors have yet to say if Gray has been passed fit, but presuming he has, all three should be involved in tomorrow’s visit to Ulster.

So should Tom Gordon, the flanker who has been in the Scotland squad this year but is not required - at least not at present - for the Nations Cup. But the availability of that handful is outweighed by the loss of a host of others, including vital players such as inside centre Sam Johnson, who was one of those released last weekend but is expected to start in Italy.

Glasgow have 11 players in Townsend’s 35-man squad, while Edinburgh, who are at home to Cardiff Blues tomorrow, have 12. Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill’s concerns are exacerbated by the absence of stand-off Jaco van der Walt, who has begun a quarantine period after getting married in his native South Africa.

Van der Walt will become eligible on residency grounds to play for Scotland this month. Under-20 international Nathan Chamberlain will start at 10 in his absence.