Rugby World Cup: George Turner, a bread knife and the latest in the curse of Scotland's hookers

He was able to play but the lineout was a bit of a mess against the Springboks and Turner joked that his bad hand was to blame. Scotland’s hooker curse is no laughing matter, though. Ashman was the first to fall, suffering a concussion in training. That necessitated McInally flying to France as cover.

Ashman recovered and McInally returned home only to be summoned back to Nice after Cherry tumbled down stairs at the team hotel. Cherry also suffered a concussion and was ruled out of the tournament, replaced in the squad by McInally. Unfortunately, the former Scotland captain was denied a World Cup swansong when he injured his neck in training and Johnny Matthews was drafted in to take his place.

Turner's mishap was minor in comparison but doubtless caused Gregor Townsend a few anxious moments amid the general hooker mayhem.

"Everyone seems to be doing it!" smiled Turner. "It was the day before the South Africa game. I cut my hand open and got four or five stitches. I had to bandage it during the game and it kept coming off which was a bit annoying, but it’s fine now."

The Glasgow Warriors player said he didn't realise at first that it was his hand he was cutting. "It just tugged a bit and I was like, ‘that bread is a bit tough’. It was my hand. The doctor said I had to go to hospital, which was a bit of panic stations, but it was fine. He sewed me up straight away."

And did it affect him during the game in Marseille? "Not really," said Turner. "I’ll maybe blame my bad throwing on it."

Scotland can't afford similar set-piece woes against Ireland in Paris on Saturday as they chase an eight-point win which would likely gain them a place in the quarter-finals. "We obviously need our best performance," said Turner. "We need to be nine or 10 out of 10 to beat the best teams in the world, especially Ireland in a World Cup where it’s a must-win game for them as well."