Wilson tips Brown and others for Lions squad Coach believes Six Nations form will aid Scots’ chances
GLASGOW coach Danny Wilson believes that several members of his squad are in contention for a place on the Lions tour to South Africa, including Fraser Brown.
The hooker only returned to action last month after being out with a neck injury since early December, and is just one of a number of potential tourists who have played very little high-intensity rugby this season.
With the squad due to be named on May 6, selecting Brown might amount to a leap of faith by the Lions selectors, but Wilson believes the 31-year-old has enough high-intensity games coming up to ensure he will be matchfit come tour time.
So far the Warriors only have three Rainbow Cup fixtures inked in – away to Benetton, then back-to-back matches against Edinburgh, the first of which will decide the outcome of the 1872 Cup. But Wilson is sure the derbies are of the requisite standard, and thinks that a potential match against a South African side later on in the competition would be exactly what Brown needs ahead of the Lions tour.
“I think that the derbies are the nearest things to international intensity,” he said. “Everyone’s fired up to play in them, and there’s a decider, so you’re guaranteed that both teams will pick their full-strength sides for that game.
“The South African sides will be good tests, exactly the tests the likes of Fraser will want to play in to give himself any opportunity to put his hand up.”
Brown was the only player that Wilson was willing to mention by name when it came to Lions contention, but he believes other members of his squad are also in the running.
Tighthead prop Zander Fagerson is one Warrior who could be in contention, and Wilson is optimistic that there will be a far greater Scottish representation in general this time than in the previous two tours under head coach Warren Gatland, thanks in part to the presence in Gatland’s back-room team of Scotland coaches Gregor Townsend and Steve Tandy.
“I think there are a couple there,” he said of his own players’ chances. “But speculating and pushing names forward would maybe not be completely appropriate right now.
“Beating England and
France away in the Six Nations I’m hoping will give Warren Gatland the faith in some of those Scottish players who we know have been playing well and deserve an opportunity. I’m hopeful that a whole host of them – maybe more than in the past – will get selected.
“I certainly think there are a few boys here who put their hand up during the Six Nations and have played a fair amount of rugby, and I’m hoping to see some good news from that point of view. And there’s two Scottish selectors on there now!”
Wilson has already completed a lot of his planning for next season with the recruitment of quality players such as Jack Dempsey and Josh McKay, but he remains hopeful of making a couple of other signings. He has also finalised his list of which players will be moving on in the summer at the end of their contracts, and those names will be announced shortly.
“There’s a little bit left to announce, let’s say, which will be positive hopefully. And then we will be able to announce the guys who won’t be with us in the future – some guys who have been here a long time and have been brilliant servants to Glasgow Warriors and maybe for a whole host of reasons it’s time to move on.
“I’d say everybody knows now if they’re with us or not in future. Every player has had their meeting with me and chat about what the future looks like. There will be further announcements confirming who will be leaving and who will be staying. All that is yet to come.
“It’s an inevitable side of the job and one you don’t enjoy particularly, but it’s part of the responsibility to give people contract offers or new contracts or the opposite where you’re informing players that there won’t be a contract offer for them for the future – and the reasons why. It’s always tough, and some of those reasons are very different.”
While there is still uncertainty about the later rounds of the Rainbow Cup, Wilson very much hopes Glasgow will be able to play against one of the South African sides – the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers – who have entered the competition.
“If we play a South
African side that we haven’t played before, it will be an outstanding opportunity to get tested against some of the best players and teams out there.
“We’ll just have to wait and see if it’s realistic. Hopefully it happens .”
SPENDING Christmas in Florida rather than Paisley does not seem the worst of trade-offs. Unable to fly home for the holidays at the end of last year, Connor Thomson chose instead to join team-mate Carter Morgan and his family for a month of sunshine and golf.
“It was a bit weird having Christmas Day with someone else’s family as you felt a bit like a fifth wheel,” admitted the 20 year-old. “But they were brilliant with me and even got me some presents. Luckily I’d asked my parents to send over presents for all of them too to say thank you. I ended up staying there for about a month and managed to fit in a few rounds of golf. The weather was cracking for the most part, too.”
That is not the full story, of course. Because there was tennis too. Lots of tennis. And gym sessions and draining work-outs. For that is the very reason Thomson is in the United States as he nudges past the midway point of the second year of his tennis scholarship at the University of South Carolina.
With his first year as a Gamecock derailed by Covid, the former Wimbledon juniors quarter-finalist now has the option of making it a five-year stay in total.
Given the facilities, the coaching and the serious level of competition, it is little wonder that the psychology sophomore is already giving it some serious consideration.
“It’s getting harder and harder now just to walk out of juniors and join the tour,” he said. “You’re up against men and it’s physically demanding and tough.
“In college you get access to some of the best facilities and great coaches, a lot of whom are ex-professionals. And that’s a brilliant experience. To have the back-up of getting a degree as well in case the tennis doesn’t work out can only help, too.
“The colleges plough so much money into sport so we’re almost like an investment for them. If we can do well then they can publicise that and they get additional funding from it. They also have college alumni who donate money if the team is doing well to continue that success.
“If there was a chance to turn full time with tennis I would do that in a heartbeat. But for right now being here is the best place for me.”
Thomson, whose dad Malky is the head coach of the
Rangers women’s team, has taken part in Tennis Scotland’s Between the Lines video diary series, to let others see what his daily routine involves.
“I decided I would do it by taking people along with me on a typical day rather than me just talking the whole time,” he said. “The majority of it was filmed in December when I was in Florida so it was just to try to give some insight to show maybe juniors what it’s like as a college player.
“I wish it had been just me lying on a beach! The reality is it’s early mornings, long days and a tough shift. But
I’d definitely recommend this route to anyone who might have the chance to do it.”
All being well, Thomson plans on returning home this summer for a brief family reunion before putting in some “grind” by playing as many tournaments as he can.
And if a return to Wimbledon was a possibility, he would grab that with both hands.
“I’m hoping once this semester is done I can get home for a few weeks at the end of May to see the family.
And I’d love to just hang out with them all summer ideally.
“But you can’t stop the train. You have to keep going. I’m 20 now and I have to keep moving forward and trying to progress my career. So I’m looking to play in tournaments for the whole summer just to keep the momentum going that I’ve been building over here.
“I’d love to play the grass court season but if that doesn’t happen I’ll play on the Futures tour anywhere in Europe and just grind for eight weeks over the summer. I need to get in good quality matches and jump up levels.
“I’d love to qualify for Wimbledon again if that was a possibility. Having been there before you get a taste for it so any time you can get a chance to go back you take that instantly.”