Bring on the Irish!
Wilson can’t wait to go to war with a familiar foe
THERE is a glint in Ryan Wilson’s eye as bright as the emerald green jersey to which it refers as he discusses the prospect of doing battle with Ireland next Sunday. In the sweltering heat and humidity of Yokohama, the flames of an old rivalry will once again be stoked.
Of a contest which has undoubtedly been cranked up a notch or two over recent years, Wilson is only halfjoking when he says: ‘Is it Scotland and Ireland or just me and Ireland?
‘We play against each other week in and week out with Glasgow and Edinburgh against Munster and Leinster. You build up these relationships on the field.’
When Wilson talks about facing the Irish, Monty Python and the
Holy Grail springs to mind. More specifically, the famous scene with the Black Knight and King Arthur.
‘None shall pass! I move for no man,’ says the knight, refusing to stand aside and allow the king to cross a bridge.
‘Tis but a scratch!’ he insists, swiftly after having his left arm severed in the ensuing sword fight.
Baffled by the sheer belligerence of the man, the king replies: ‘A scratch?! Your arm’s off!’
‘No it isn’t,’ says the knight defiantly, shortly before having the other arm chopped off for good measure. ‘I’ve had worse. Tis but a flesh wound!’
It is easy to envisage Wilson adopting a similar mindset when confronted with the sight of Ireland on a rugby field.
There will be no backwards or sideways steps. Come hell or high water, he will stand his ground against a team who have earned a special place in his heart over the years.
Wilson does not seek to deny the fact that a showdown with the Irish gets his juices flowing in a fashion unlike any other, and all the more so when it’s on World Cup duty.
Only a meeting with Saracens and their assortment of wind-up merchants even comes close to matching the kind of emotion which will pump through his veins if selected next week.
The special ‘relationships’ he speaks of have been built over time. Next Sunday will be his sixth meeting with Ireland in Test rugby.
In the previous five, he has tasted victory on only one occasion, in 2017, losing the other four to a team whose three Six Nations titles identify them as the most successful team in the championship since Wilson made his international debut in 2013.
At club level, there have also been dozens of meetings with Leinster, Munster and Ulster. Wilson played in the Pro12 final in 2015, when victory over Munster saw Glasgow Warriors crowned champions.
He did so once again last season, this time against Leinster, when the Warriors narrowly lost at Celtic Park. With that in mind, the conversation moves on to Rob Kearney.
For the Glasgow contingent in the Scotland squad, this will mark their first meeting with Kearney since his reckless tackle on Stuart Hogg in the final back in May.
With Hogg having to leave the field concussed after being pole-axed in mid-air, it proved to be his final act in a Warriors jersey before leaving to join Exeter.
Yet, intriguingly, it is another Irishman who is occupying the thoughts of Wilson as the Scots gear up to begin their World Cup campaign. Asked about the reunion with Kearney, Wilson says: ‘It’s Peter O’Mahony for me. I leave the backs to the backs. Coming up against O’Mahony or some of the Saracens players would be my favourite.’
Indeed, O’Mahony was involved in another flashpoint with Hogg during the Six Nations earlier this year, when his late tackle ruled the Scotland full-back out of the rest of the championship with a shoulder injury.
Then, as if the contest needed any more sub-plots, there is also the whole issue surrounding Ireland and Munster scrum-half Conor Murray.
Back in 2017, Murray said that he was ‘properly p ***** off’ with what he had perceived to be a deliberate
ploy from the Glasgow players to injure him by targeting his standing leg during his box-kicks during a Heineken Champions Cup tie.
Asked about the fact there seems to be no love lost with the Irish, Wilson replies: ‘No, there isn’t. I quite enjoy it. There is an edge there. I don’t know if they target me. I might deserve it.
‘Yeah, I suppose sometimes people do try to wind me up. You get told stuff by players that play with them and they say: “Aw, what they were saying about you” and you realise they were probably trying to wind you up.
‘But it’s nothing too bad. They (Ireland) just give as good as they get I suppose. It doesn’t get to me. I’m too busy giving it to them.
‘I couldn’t tell you what Ireland are going to do. They will be training a certain way that they want to play their game and we have our way, which is a fast brand of rugby. We’ll have to wait and see.’
Wilson will face stiff competition in the back-row, but the fact he captained his country for the first time in last week’s send-off against Georgia at BT Murrayfield shows the regard in which he is held by head coach Gregor Townsend.
He is one of Townsend’s most trusted lieutenants, a relationship which stems back to their days together with Glasgow at Scotstoun.
‘It’s about getting people in the right mindset and that’s part of what I do in the way I talk to players and try to get us up,’ says the 30-year-old, who has won 45 caps.
‘Throughout the pack, we’ve got to bring physicality. We have some big players in there who can do that.
‘I felt a bit sorry for Tatsy (Matt Taylor, defence coach) after the France game in Nice. He came out in the press and said it was his fault for not getting the players mentally right.
‘But you should never rely on a coach to get you in the right mental state. When you go into a Test match for your country, you’ve got to put yourself in that state.’
This will be Wilson’s second successive World Cup, having played in the 2015 edition when the Scots were cruelly dumped out at the quarter-final stage by Australia.
It will also be the third time he has toured Japan, having played in the Under-20s world championship there in 2009 and again with the Scotland senior side in 2016.
‘It is tough,’ he says of the conditions in the Far East. ‘The ball is greasy. You see the Japanese players tape all their fingers.
‘A couple of our players do it now.
Yes, there is an edge there. I don’t know if they target me. I suppose people do try to wind me up
Peter Horne did it in Japan a few years ago, cover every single finger because it helps with grip.
‘I did the Under-20s there. It was difficult. I remember the first game against Samoa and everyone was just shocked by the humidity. But everyone is going to be playing in that and you just have to find little ways to get round it.
‘The World Cup in England (in 2015) was easy because my family travelled pretty much everywhere we went. This will be difficult, especially the ages my kids are at. ‘They’ve started to understand that I’m going away and will be missing my little girl’s birthday. ‘She’s been saying: “Can you not just come back for it?”. I’ll maybe speak to Gregor and see what he says about that! ‘They don’t seem that interested in FaceTime or anything like that. They just start shouting at each other.’ Screaming kids aside, Wilson has his own plans to dish out a rollicking next Sunday. Those noise levels are about to be cranked up to the max.