Ryan’s redemption
Wilson is eager to atone for Scotland
RYAN WILSON will take to the field in Paris t omorrow night determined to embrace another shot at redemption. As he starts against the French, the Glasgow back-row forward is well aware that, more than most, he is lucky to be there.
Earlier this year Wilson was found guilty of assault after an unsavoury incident in a Glasgow kebab shop. There was a £750 fine, a three-month club ban and a sixmonth international suspension which only ended in time for him to play against Italy last week.
His performance in that 48-7 victory, and the four games he has managed to play for Glasgow, have been enough for Vern Cotter to put faith in him. For that Wilson remains grateful, relieved — and sufficiently chastened.
‘Mentally it has been tough going through what happened,’ he told Sportsmail. ‘I regret the whole situation, everything about it.
‘ I have probably done some growing up since and I feel a stronger person. I have been through quite a bit but I think my head is in the right place now.
‘Looking back, I regret the whole situation but I now feel like I have come out the other end and am looking forward to hopefully being involved in the World Cup and doing my part for Scotland.
‘It’s good to be back. I kept it in the back of my head that it would come again. You just never know how long you’ll have to wait. But I think I’ve trained and played well enough to merit it.
‘I had a lot of time to think and train. I’ve come back a better player — stronger and faster — but also a more mature person.
‘I’ve learned from what happened and there’s no way I’ll ever be put in the position again, that’s for sure. All I want to do now is represent my country.’
Wilson turned to senior figures in the game to help him through the darkest times of his rugby career which he concedes were totally of his own making. He also revealed he had met one of his assault victims, former Glasgow Hawks player Ally Maclay, in an attempt to clear the air.
‘Through it all I didn’t think so much that I had blown it but I felt I had put myself under a bit of pressure when it came to World Cup selection,’ he said.
‘Through my time out I had great support from people round me, people at Glasgow like Gregor Townsend who was fantastic. I also looked up Sean Lineen who was my mentor and people at Scotland like Vern Cotter and Jonathan Humphries were also guys I could speak to.
‘The Scotland guys gave me no guarantees about selection but Vern did say if I worked hard I would get a shot and he was true to his word.
‘It was great getting the game against Italy under my belt last weekend and I feel like I am ready to go again and can’t wait to get out there against France. I feel that I’m 100-per-cent ready but it will be good to get another match under my belt before the World Cup just to sharpen up.’
Cotter said he had picked Wilson ahead of the likes of Adam Ashe, John Barclay, Hamish Watson, Blair Cowan and Hugh Blake, who were all axed from his World Cup squad, because he brought a more physical edge to the back-row.
‘Ryan is our fastest forward and is versatile enough to play seven or eight,’ said the Scotland head coach. ‘He’s aggressive and brings an edge to the team that will be needed during the World Cup.’
The Scotland head coach has picked a strong side against the French which should be close to the one which will start in the World Cup. The only glaring omission is full-back Stuart Hogg who is currently wearing a boot to protect the ankle injury he picked up in the warm-up ahead of the Italy game, although it did not stop him playing in the game.
Cotter revealed the full-back would be out for a couple of weeks but there was no need to panic about his World Cup involvement.
‘The doctors have confirmed it’s a 10-day, two-week turnaround for Stuart,’ said the Scotland head coach. ‘We think he will be back on his feet this time next week. There is also positive news for Ryan Grant, who had a knee injury but who is back scrummaging and not far away from full fitness.
‘It is great to have Sean Maitland back against France for his first game since January after injury as it was touch and go whether he would make the World Cup until three weeks ago. It was only then he began showing signs of getting close to full fitness after shoulder surgery and he has come through and starts at full-back in Paris.’
Cotter concluded that he would use the match tomorrow to iron out problems he had identified in the previous three warm-up matches to ensure his side were sharp for the World Cup opener against Japan in three weeks’ time.
‘ It’s our l ast 80 minutes to prepare for Japan so i t’s our last opportunity to prepare and improve things that didn’t go well in our two matches against Italy and the game against Ireland,’ said Cotter.
‘We’re using it as a measuring stick as we’re playing away from home against a team who have announced they’d like to score a l ot of points against us. Defensively we’ll get tested, we’ll have to react quickly, playing against big powerful athletes.’