WILSON WILL LEAD RENNIE’S WARRIORS
Dave Rennie has made his first major call since taking over as Glasgow Warriors head coach by naming Ryan Wilson as captain.
The role was shared by scrumhalf Henry Pyrgos and lock Jonny Gray — who is seen as a future Scotland captain — last term under Gregor Townsend.
But Rennie has now decided Wilson — who has enjoyed his fair share of controversy throughout his career — is the man he wants to lead out his team.
‘Ryan has the ability to challenge others, but also put an arm around those who need it and that is a rare quality,’ said Rennie.
‘We will still have a strong leadership group supporting Ryan and the guys who captained last season will both have a big part to play, from a leadership point of view.’
You could never accuse Dave Rennie of choosing the easy option. Having moved halfway round the world to take on the role of Glasgow Warriors head coach, he has already proven he’s a man unafraid to take risks.
And, when it came time to pick his captain at his new club, he certainly hasn’t baulked at the task.
Indeed, the Kiwi could have gone down the safe route and re-appointed Jonny Gray and Henry Pyrgos — who both made a good fist of being co-captains last season.
Instead, yesterday he named combative back-row forward Ryan Wilson as his skipper.
There is, of course, no denying the talent of the 28-year-old Scotland international. But, given his history, it’s fair to say that question marks remains over his temperament.
Wilson’s appointment is quite the reversal in fortunes since his unsavoury fall from grace two years ago. Back then, he was banned by the SRu for three months without pay following a conviction for assault which left his career hanging in the balance.
In a now infamous incident, the Aldershot-born back row was fined £750 at Glasgow Sheriff Court after he attacked two Hawks players in a city kebab shop on a Halloween night out while dressed as Batman.
on the pitch, Wilson has also seen the red mist descend at inopportune moments.
At the 2015 World Cup, he was yellow carded for stamping on the arm of a Samoan player during the must-win final group match at St James’ Park in Newcastle. That indiscretion contributed to Scotland going in at the break 26-23 down before a Greig Laidlaw inspired second-half fightback saw them through.
Wilson appeared to pay the price for his indiscipline as he was then dropped from the match-day squad by head coach Vern Cotter for the quarter-final match against Australia at Twickenham.
Many believe his reputation as a hard man has made him an easy target for officials, however, with a citing last year for allegedly grabbing the testicles of Northampton scrum-half Lee Dixon in a European match thrown out at a disciplinary hearing. Yet, despite his previous troubles, there can be little doubt Wilson has both cleaned up his act and increased his influence on the field of play for club and country of late. And it could be that the extra responsibility of being captain will inspire him further and having the faith of new head coach Rennie (left) will certainly do his confidence no harm.
‘I’ve met Ryan two or three times over the last year,’ said the New Zealander yesterday. ‘I’ve watched him train and I’ve watched him operate within the group and I believe he’s an excellent choice.
‘He was part of the leadership group last season and, even in my short time here so far, he speaks really well and is demanding.
‘Ryan has a real ability to challenge others, but also puts an arm around those who need it and I think that is a really rare quality.
‘We’ll still have a strong leadership group supporting Ryan and the guys who captained last season (Gray and Pyrgos) will both have a big part to play from a leadership point of view.’
Wilson, who has played 127 times for the Scotstoun outfit, insisted he was honoured to be handed the role on a permanent basis — and immediately targeted Guiness Pro14 success.
‘This club has been a big part of my life, and my family’s life, since I moved here,’ he said. ‘I’ve captained the club on a number of occasions but to be named club captain means a lot to me.
‘I’m looking forward to working with Dave and the coaching team and I can’t wait for the new season to begin. We want to finish top of that table and go on to win the league — we’re not here to partake.
‘I was surprised, but I’ve captained the team quite a few times now and know what to do on the pitch. So I suppose it comes down to learning off the pitch and how to manage people. But, from what I’ve learned of Dave already — and it’s only been a week and a half — he’s a familyorientated guy — and that’s very much me.
‘He’s a down-to-earth bloke, someone you can easily get on with and have a chat with, so I’m looking forward to it.
‘We’ve got a very good family culture but he wants to push that even further. He said that’s a massive part of him. He said, if the family is happy, the players are happy, and then they’re performing well.
‘on top of that, I feel that you can’t always be deadly serious to be a captain and that’s probably another thing he liked about me — I’m not the most serious guy outside of rugby.
‘But cross that white line, a switch goes and I go into serious mode. When the boys see that, they think: “Right, here we go, we’re off to work, Wilson’s being serious, we’d better switch on”.’