Guest Blogger: From Villian to Superhero - Ryan Wilson

Guest blogger and Glasgow fan 'The Pen' gives his views on the new Glasgow Warriors captain Ryan Wilson.

From Villain to Superhero

The 27th of January 2015. A date forever ingrained in Ryan Wilson’s life as the day he was found guilty of a 2013 assault in Glasgow city centre. Suspended without pay for 3 months from club and international, in a World Cup year no less, could have signalled the downward spiral and potentially the end of a career.

But Wilson is made of stern stuff. He got his head down, he grafted, kept himself fit and got himself back into contention and now, 2 and a half years later in a story of rugby redemption, he’s been promoted to the role of club captain at Glasgow Warriors.

Wilson joined Glasgow in 2010 having made appearance for London Irish, Wasps and Moseley, who were sorry to leave a promising talent leave their side, especially since they’d been robbed of his talents for 4 months that season due to a serious shoulder injury. In just 11 games there, he became a huge presence in their back row and indeed, he helped to keep them up that season. But the SRU had already taken notice of his abilities and he was recruited by Sean Lineen.

Since then he has gone from inexperienced youngster to squad player, first team regular to one of the first names on the team sheet. Several seasons building his experience, skill levels and attitude have seen him grow in stature and helped Glasgow to get to the 2014 Pro12 final before his world threatened to come crashing down.

Having won his first caps for Scotland under Scott Johnson in early 2013 and become a firm favourite of Vern Cotter, the 2015 court verdict threatened to derail what had been a superb season for the Warriors and for Wilson.

But it seems to have been the making of Wilson. His return against the Ospreys, met with mixed opinions as to whether he should ever wear Warriors colours again, was the catalyst for the Warriors to go on and win the league. His most notable contribution a beautiful offload to Richie Vernon for the big centre to get over the line and send Glasgow top of the Pro12 and a home semi-final.

On his international return, he played himself back into contention for a World Cup place and indeed he was picked as part of the squad, playing in 4 of the Scots matches, picking up a yellow card against Samoa…

And that is something that has been a constant criticism of Wilson and his career. “He needs to control his temper”. “He’s a liability”. “Same old Wilson, penalty machine!”. I’ve heard all of these in the stands and worse. Does he give away penalties? He’s a back row, of course he does. Does he lose his temper? Of course! He’s a back rower! Is he likely to pick up yellows? See previous answers… Wilson plays like all good back rows- on the edge. He’ll get pinged, possibly even targeted, but he’ll win you more ball, and ultimately more games than he will cost you. The hot headed temperament has largely been kept under control. It’s not something you want to disappear completely because it makes him the player he is. Abrasive, unafraid, willing to mix it up and somewhat of an enforcer. Every single team needs a player like him.

Does he still do stupid things? Of course. He had a shocker of a game against Australia in the summer internationals but that was one black mark against his name in a season of consistently high performances. Last year he was one of the best Warriors players in the squad, his performance in the 0-43 rout of Leicester a masterclass in back row play, signified a man who had matured into a tremendous player and a leader on the pitch.

Wilson may divide opinion off the pitch, but on it, where it really matters, he has had the backing of Gregor Townsend, Vern Cotter and now Dave Rennie and that tells you something about his ability and presence in the squad.

Rennie has gone one step further than Townsend and Cotter and promoted him to the role of captain for the forthcoming season, taking the reins from co-captains Henry Pyrgos and Jonny Gray. A risk? I don’t think so. As I see it, this is a win/win situation. Wilson plays and talks like a captain. He leads by example and he rallies his troops. The flip side, is that it leaves Jonny Gray free to do what he does best without the burden of captaincy and Pyrgos to recapture his form and his place in the team following the great performances of Ali Price.

This season heralds a new era at Scotstoun and Wilson can be instrumental in the Warriors push to improve on last season’s 6th place. Rennie has said that the start of the season will see a number of youngsters rewarded for their good pre-season as well as some of the international players. The experience of Wilson can help this young squad to get through the early games of the season and get Rennie off to the best possible start. In a pre-season meeting of season ticket holders, when asked his reason for selecting Wilson as captain Rennie stated that it was the 2 sides of Wilson that stood out. His ability to take someone aside and put an arm round them, looking after them, while being able to dig a finger into their ribs and get them to up their game.

Left field choice or natural born leader? Only time will tell…

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