Danny no longer one of the boyos
NEW Scotland forwards coach Danny Wilson developed a thick skin through spending 20 years as an Englishman in Welsh rugby.
And having a hide as tough as a rhinoceros will come in handy this weekend if his team lose to Wales, the country that his wife Rachel proudly represented 25 times.
The minute he walks through the door of their home in Gullane, East Lothian, his wife and two children — all of them Welsh speakers — will be on his case in a good natured way.
Don’t be surprised if the phone starts ringing, too.
He has lots of very good friends in the Valleys after having coaching roles at three of the four Welsh regions — Newport-Gwent Dragons, Scarlets and Cardiff Blues — and being in charge of the Wales Under-20s team.
Of course, his nearest and dearest want him to do well in the long term as Scotland forwards coach but maybe not that well to begin with against their beloved Wales — which is why he is ready for some wind-ups if he finishes up on the losing side.
‘You definitely need to be thickskinned coaching in Wales,’ said Wilson (below), who only left Cardiff in the summer and returns to the Welsh capital at the weekend as part of the Scotland coaching staff, having been chosen to replace Dan McFarland.
‘I said to my wife: “You’re not going to believe who the first game is against”. It will be a difficult one as my wife is from Llanelli, her family have season tickets at the Scarlets and my brother-in-law coaches the forwards.’
There will be lots of familiar faces in the Welsh squad that he will recognise after coaching them at age-grade level and also with the three regional professional clubs.
They all respect him highly but will be doing their level best to make his debut as a Scotland assistant coach get off to the worst possible start. ‘I’ve coached a lot of the Wales players individually and collectively when I was with the Under-20s and then through the regional coaching, and now I’m going to be coaching against them with Scotland,’ said Wilson, who was born in Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset. ‘I worked closely with Shaun Edwards (Wales assistant head coach) last year and know what a quality coach he is. ‘There are two sides to the coin, though. ‘There are bits and pieces about them I’m aware of, but there’s also a group of people who know a huge amount about me as a coach as well. ‘I’ve been in that Welsh system for a long time and I’ve gained a huge amount from that, but now I move on to the next chapter with Scotland.’