'I've seen it grow from when we were playing in front of 1,000 to where we are now'
Ryan Wilson has pledged his future to Glasgow Warriors, after the back-rower agreed a new deal that will keep him at the club until the summer of 2022.
The news comes following the re-signing of fellow international Pete Horne earlier this week.
Wilson’s tally of 166 club appearances sees him tied for fourth on the club’s all-time chart, level with Pete Horne and behind only Chris Fusaro, Graeme Morrison and Rob Harley.
The 30-year-old is now in his tenth season with the club, having made his Glasgow debut in the season-opening victory over Leinster at Firhill back in September 2010.
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WATCH: Jim Hamilton and Darren Cave give their predictions for what should be a titanic battle at the Principality Stadium this Saturday as Wales take on France.
Originally named as club captain by Dave Rennie ahead of the 2017/18 campaign, Wilson has shared the role with Callum Gibbins for the past two seasons.
Wilson was a key member of Glasgow’s 2015 Guinness PRO12 title-winning squad, starting at openside flanker in the final in Belfast.
He has also represented his country with distinction over the course of his career to date – capped 49 times by Scotland, the back-row man was part of the squads for the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups in England and Japan respectively.
Success has also come his way against the Auld Enemy; in addition to starring in the 2018 Calcutta Cup triumph at BT Murrayfield, he remains the only player to captain Scotland A to victory over England Saxons on English soil following the 13-9 win in Newcastle in 2013.
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Friday night’s 56-24 victory over Zebre saw him start for the twelfth match in succession in a Warriors jersey, having appeared in every match since making his return from the Rugby World Cup.
Speaking to glasgowwarriors.org, Wilson expressed his desire to continue helping the club grow on and off the field.
“[The new contract] made sense for me and my family,” said Wilson.
“The club means a lot to me. I’ve seen it grow from when we were playing in front of 1,000 at Firhill to where we are now, and I want to see it keep going in that direction.
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“Glasgow’s become my home – my kids were all born here and all go to school here, so it was the right decision both for my rugby and my family. It’s a testament to the club and what we do here in terms of our culture that guys want to stay.
“I spoke to Danny and he made it clear that I was part of his plans going forward, which was really great to hear. I’ve worked with him with Scotland – he’s an excellent coach and a really good bloke, and I get on with him really well. I know where his head’s at in terms of wanting us to move forward and I’m excited to be a part of that.”
Glasgow Warriors assistant coach John Dalziel added: “Ryan’s a huge player for us. He’s obviously very experienced and he’s been a focal point for the club for a long time, in addition to being a captain and a leader.
“He’s been in the best form I’ve seen him in for a number of years since coming back from the Rugby World Cup. We’ve seen some of his best rugby in the last few months and we’re very pleased he’s re-signed with us.
“Off the pitch, he’s always got a smile on his face and is the cheeky chap you see, but he’s got the ability to switch into game mode and be a model professional on the field. He talks with real clarity and is a great guy to have around the squad.
“Not only that, he’s very good at driving standards and making sure everyone’s happy within the squad. He’s happy to take guys under his wing that have arrived at the club from elsewhere – he looks out for others and he makes sure everyone’s in a good place.”
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments