Ryan Wilson, the Scotland forward, says he is ready to make an impact in Saturday’s Six Nations opener against Wales despite having been out of action for the past six weeks with an ankle injury.
Wilson, 28, has not played a game since he suffered the injury in Glasgow Warriors’ Champions Cup defeat by Montpellier on December 16. However, he paid tribute to the Scotland strength and conditioning staff for having got him ready for the Welsh match.
The 32-times-capped loose forward is expected to be named at No 8 when the Scotland line-up is announced today, though there is a still a possibility that he could be restricted to bench duties for his first game back. Wilson said: “The strength and conditioning coaches have all sorts of things up their sleeves in terms of plans. Talking for myself, I could go straight back into a game but a lot of it is just mindset, just telling yourself you are not tired and keeping going.
“I will also be a lot fresher. I have not had five weeks of bashing myself to pieces before a Six Nations so I am coming in quite fresh. I am excited.”
The Scottish squad has had to cope with a number of front-row injury problems, but have been relatively unaffected in other areas. By stark contrast, Wales are missing a host of leading players, and yesterday named a starting line-up that did not feature Jonathan Davies, George North, Liam Williams, Dan Biggar, Taulupe Faletau, Sam Warburton or Rhys Webb, all of whom were involved in last year’s British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.
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Despite those problems, Warren Gatland was still able to pick an experienced side. Josh Adams, the Worcester wing, is the only uncapped player in the Wales team, which will be led by the 113-times-capped Alun Wyn Jones. Asked about the Welsh line-up, Wilson said: “We have been focusing on ourselves, but they have a pretty strong team. Rhys Patchell [the fly half] has been playing well for Scarlets, and the back row is strong with [Ross] Moriaty, [Aaron] Shingler and [Josh] Navidi. They can put out who they want. We are going to go there to try and beat them.”
Scotland’s front-row problems have brought recalls for the Newcastle Falcons duo Scott Lawson and Jon Welsh, whose last caps were won in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Having been out for so long, Wilson explained that both are anxious to be involved in a side that has enjoyed some big victories over the past year.
Wilson said: “If you’re an outsider looking in you would be thinking, ‘I wish I was back in there because they’re doing really well’. You want to be part of a squad that’s on th up and doing well. That could be a key factor.”
The Scots have not won in Cardiff since 2002. That year was also the last time they began their Six Nations campaign with an away win, against Italy. Other than Italy, they have not won an away game in the tournament since their victory over Ireland at Croke Park in 2010.
However, Wilson said the mindset of the current squad has changed over the past year and they are now confident that they can claim big victories on the road. They did just that on last year’s summer tour when they claimed a dramatic win against Australia in Sydney.
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“That was probably a big turning point,” he said. “We were starting to get there and then had that game. You can’t put a pin on where it started to change, but results like those are key.”