SCOTS’ SIX IS ON FIRE IF RICHIE’S GIVEN THE NOD
WARRIORS boss Danny Wilson says Richie Gray’s 1872 Cup heroics have fired him into contention for a Scotland recall.
The 31-year-old was at the heart of Glasgow’s 23-22 win over Edinburgh, reigning supreme in the lineout and putting in a huge shift at Scotstoun.
Gray boasts 65 Scotland caps but has not played for his country since March 2018, mainly due to injury.
Brother Jonny and teammate Scott Cummings have established themselves as second-row stalwarts.
Edinburgh duo Grant Gilchrist and Ben Toolis, plus Sam Skinner of Exeter, are also contenders.
But Wilson believes Gray is in the kind of form that will be impossible to ignore when Gregor Townsend picks his side for a Six Nations opener against England less than three weeks away.
Wilson said: “He’s been outstanding – our lineout functioned well in both games, which is pleasing.
“The other pleasing part, which Richie contributes to, is the turnaround in the scrum. To beat Edinburgh, you have to have your setpiece in order because you
GLASGOW ...... EDINBURGH..22 know theirs is decent. We won that battle and that helped us get the win.
“Richie has been out for a long time so to come back in and perform as he has done is a credit to him. He’s keen to put his hand up, which he is doing.”
Cummings had to be replaced with just over 10 minutes to go but Wilson is hopeful he’ll be back in time for Twickenham.
He said: “Scott took a head knock and he failed his head injury assessment to come back on – no more than that.”
While Wilson is keen to see his players represent Scotland, he’s frustrated at another length lay-off.
He said: “We’ve been told we won’t be playing for the next two weeks then there’s a debate.
“We are planning to play the rearranged game against Treviso in three or four weeks’ time.
“I’m hoping that comes as soon as possible because we don’t want a backlog and want to be able to roll on after this win.”