Townsend laments the decision to cite Wilson

From Back Page then it goes to a hearing and it gets thrown out. ‘Some of these are strong accusations and the potential outcome of that was a long ban. ‘Ryan has been outstanding for us in the past four games. He would have played against Racing 92 if he hadn’t got a knock in our last game.’ Today’s visit of the French side to Rugby Park in Kilmarnock is something of a dead-rubber for Glasgow after their chances of making the last eight of the European Champions Cup were dashed by Northampton. Nonetheless, Townsend said it was regrettable that Racing, who have already secured a quarter-final place, have opted to rest Dan Carter for the match. ‘It was great for us to go up against Carter in Paris two weeks ago as he’s one of the best players ever to play the game,’ said Townsend. ‘But he’s played a lot of games and I can understand why he’s not coming over.’ Townsend will field a strong side, with Tommy Seymour returning after the hamstring strain that kept him out for a month. Leone Nakarawa moves to No 8, with USA internationalist Greg Peterson replacing him in the second row where he will partner captain Jonny Gray. Back-row forward Josh Strauss and scrum-half Mike Blair are out with concussion. Townsend also revealed that centre Mark Bennett is taking longer than expected to recover from a shoulder injury and will not play again before the Six Nations. It seems likely, therefore, that Scotland head coach Vern Cotter will not risk Bennett for the opening match against England.

GLASGOW Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend has hit out at the decision to cite Ryan Wilson for allegedly grabbing the testicles of an opposition player during last weekend’s defeat at Northampton. The case made national headlines before it was swiftly thrown out at a disciplinary hearing in London on Wednesday. And in a broadside evidently aimed at the citing officer who reported the Scotland international to European Rugby’s disciplinary committee, Townsend insisted that ‘people have to be pretty sure’ before making such strong claims. Sportsmail understands the hearing ended quickly after alleged victim Lee Dickson, the Northampton scrum-half, told the panel by telephone that Wilson was innocent. ‘I was disappointed it went to a hearing in the first place,’ said Townsend, whose player faced a minimum 12-week ban if found guilty. ‘The nature of the accusation and the media that was created from that caused embarrassment for Ryan. ‘Having to fly him down there for the hearing and other things disrupted our week, which was not great. ‘People have to be pretty sure if they are making those citings in the future for something as serious as this. ‘I am sure the disciplinary department will say: “Oh well, we were justified in our actions,” but