Wilson’s home debut will be greeted by the sound of silence as Glasgow Warriors take on Scarlets at deserted Scotstoun
Danny Wil s o n makes hi s home bow as Glasgow Warriors coach tomorrow but will do so in an eerily empty Scotstoun Stadium.
As the fan ban continues for Scottish sport, Wilson will have to rely on his own motivational skills and those of his players as his side take on Scarlets.
B u t d e s e r t e d s t a d i u ms are just one consequence of t he c oronavirus pandemic for Scottish rugby. It was announced yesterday that the game below international and professional level has been postponed until next year. That includes the semi- pro Super6 which won’t resume until spring 2021 at the earliest.
With no tier of rugby beneath t h e p r o s i d e s i t b e c o mes i ncumbent upon Glasgow and Edinburgh to find a way for their academy and fringe players to have experience of competitive action should they need to be called up to the senior sides. It’s particularly important given the imminent loss of players in the forthcomi ng i nternational window
and the continuing threat of Covid- 19.
It is a conundrum Wilson says Glasgow are tr ying to resolve. “We’re talking about a solution in- camp around something; how we can create a second tier of players,” the Warriors coach explained.
“I don’t know any time during my coaching career when we haven’t had the second tier to go to. The big concern is that there will be a lot of players who haven’t really done proper training - that is not making a tackle for seven months. That’s a huge, huge thing and a strange uncharted territory.
“We have to be aware if we do bring a player in, he hasn’t d o n e a ny t h i n g f o r s e ve n months apart from running and weights. Scrums lineouts, contact – they need to be battle- hardened and that takes at least a couple of weeks. So we have to take a look and see if this one or that one fell over due to Covid, who do we go to next and how do we make sure they’re ready to go or at least fit for purpose to be safe to go into a game of rugby?”
Zander Fagerson and Tom Gordon star t against Scarl e t s a f t e r Covi d - 1 9 i s s ue s f orced t hem to self- i solate and miss last weekend’s loss to Connacht. Ratu Tagive also returns and Niko Matawalu could make a first appearance of the season off the bench.