Gouge claim: 'There is certainly a hand that comes across on to the top of Ryan's head'

Glasgow boss Danny Wilson has defended the “outstanding” Ryan Wilson despite his costly yellow card in their Guinness PRO14 defeat to Munster on Monday. Only two points separated the sides when the Glasgow captain saw yellow in the 67th minute of the 27-13 defeat. 

Wilson was penalised for falling onto Munster scrum-half Craig Casey as he dived on a loose ball and the incident sparked handbags between the two sides which Wilson claimed on the RugbyPass Offload podcast that he felt there should have been more cards.

Warriors boss Wilson has now defended the Scotland back row for his part in the incident. “Ryan Wilson has been absolutely outstanding for this group. I have been so impressed with his leadership on and off the field. His commitment to Glasgow Warriors is phenomenal.

Ryan Wilson and Dylan Hartley co-host the latest RugbyPass Offload show

Ryan Wilson and Dylan Hartley co-host the latest RugbyPass Offload show

“Having said that, he is the first to admit he made an error and a poor decision when we were only two points behind with ten minutes to go. It’s tough enough against Munster when you have got 15 on the park and eight forwards.”

Wilson added that his namesake captain was “devastated” post-match, explaining that he “fronted up to the group” and apologised. “That shows the character of the man and his commitment,” said the former Cardiff Blues coach, who faces his former side on Sunday.

Tensions boiled over at Glasgow on Monday, but yellow-carded Ryan Wilson – the only player punished after a melee with Munster – claims he wasn't the only sinner #GuinnessPRO14 https://t.co/XlmCvz61hu

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 25, 2020

Wilson revealed the incident – in which the Glasgow captain said he felt a hand reaching towards his eyes – is currently being looked at by the PRO14. The coach gave his own view: “There was a bit of handbags after and on the video there is certainly a hand that comes across on to the top of Ryan’s head. 

“The camera angle doesn’t show any more than that. We’ll leave that with the relevant people to deal with. The PRO14 takes care of that now but I know it has been or is still being looked at, so we wait for news on that.”

Glasgow face Cardiff this weekend having won just one of their last six games. Despite the poor results, Wilson is keen to look at the positive of fringe players picking up game time in the absence of the 24 who are unavailable through either national team selection or injury.

“It’s been very, very challenging and will continue to be very, very challenging, just because a lot has changed since before Covid. We’re sat here with 24 players unavailable to us.

“That’s a fair number for any squad, especially a squad that wasn’t completed due to the Covid situation. It’s meant we have had to do a fair bit of getting people in, from loans, from local clubs, from all over the place, to try and deal with the situation.

“I don’t think we have ever been in a situation like this before and I hope we are never ever in a situation like this again. But at the same time, it has given us an immediate opportunity to learn about a lot of players.

“I’ve come into the squad here and there is a lot of players I probably wouldn’t have learned about now because I wouldn’t have seen them play if everyone had been available to us.”

Superb @Munsterrugby continued their winning start with a first win over @GlasgowWarriors at Scotstoun since 2016 🙌

A cracking BP win for Johann van Graan’s men in testing conditions 💪 #GuinnessPRO14 match highlights ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/VW5pv9aPEy

— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) November 23, 2020