My racehorse Rufus is ready for the 6.30
Wilson backs winger to land derby win
DANNY WILSON reckons ‘racehorse’ Rufus McLean can help his Warriors win by a nose against Edinburgh.
The Scotland winger has been chomping at the bit to get back into action after three months out with a groin injury.
Glasgow coach Wilson wanted to make sure he was 100 per cent before bringing him back and has given him the No.11 jersey instead of Cole Forbes because he thinks his X factor could make the difference in a really close match.
Wilson said: “Rufus has worked really hard through his rehab to get back to fitness and he’s raring to go.
“We’ve really delayed his return to make sure he’s fully fit and done as much conditioning as possible.
“Most groin issues can be relatively complicated so you need to make sure you get them exactly right – especially for a racehorse, and that’s what he is. He’s a sprinter.
“Cole Forbes played really well last time but Rufus has got the nod on the fact there is that X factor he can bring.”
The game at BT Murrayfield is the last fixture in the regular URC season and only the team that wins will get into the Champions Cup, with the losers in the Challenge Cup next season instead.
Seventh-placed Warriors are just ahead of eighth-placed Gunners in the table on points difference so a draw would favour them too.
Both sides are already through to the play-offs and the outcome of this match will decide who they meet in the quarterfinals. It will also decide who wins the 1872 Cup this season, with Glasgow holding a 13-point lead from their home game back in March.
Wilson’s side finished that match strongly but in a lot of games this season they have started well but faded in the second half.
The coach reckons his Warriors will need to play well in the first half as well as the second if they are going to end up on the right side of the result.
He said: “We need to get both of those things right in what will be a tough, tight derby.
“The last time we played Edinburgh it was 17-17 after 55 minutes, then in the last period of the game we went on to win 30-17. We finished really strongly.”
Wilson has made two other changes to his line-up that started their Challenge Cup quarterfinal loss to Lyon a fortnight ago, bringing hooker George Turner and flanker Tom Gordon into his pack.