Wilson ditches Wasps for Scotland
TRANSFER NEWS: Wasps have confirmed that their new forwards coach Danny Wilson will join the Scotland international coaching team.
In a statement Wasps said: “With regret, Wasps confirm they have reached agreement with Scottish Rugby to release Danny Wilson from his coaching contract to take up a similar role within the Scotland national set-up,”
“This is a big disappointment for us,” Director of Rugby Dai Young said.
“In addition, the timing could not be much worse. Finding someone of Danny’s quality and experience who is available at this time of year to supplement our existing coaching team is a difficult proposition.
“Disappointing as this is, I understand that the opportunity to coach a tier one international side through to and beyond the World Cup would always be difficult to turn down as opportunities like this do not come around very often.
“I believed Danny’s experience would have been a big help to me on the training pitch.
“Nonetheless, I am confident that Lee Blackett, Andy Titterrell and Ian Costello will do a good job and continue to help me move us forward,”
Scotland were on the hunt for a replacement for Dan McFarland, who has left to take over as head coach at Ulster.
Wilson spent three years at Cardiff Blues and his stock rose dramatically following an impressive finish to the season by the Cardiff Blues which saw them clinch the European Rugby Challenge Cup last month in Bilbao.
Scotland Head Coach, Gregor Townsend, said: “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to secure Danny’s services and would like to thank Wasps and Dai Young [Wasps Director of Rugby] for enabling that to happen.
“Danny has a lot of technical knowledge around the scrum, the lineout and the contact area, which is primarily the role he’ll perform in our coaching set-up. He also brings much more to our group through his experience as a Head Coach at senior club level and U20 level, helping teams and individuals reach their potential.
“We’re coming into a period where we’ll have more time with the players, particularly in the build-up to Rugby World Cup 2019, and I believe he’ll have a really positive impact on an already really good group of forwards and continue to make that a strength for Scotland.
“He’s someone I’ve got to know over the past few years and I am looking forward to seeing him working with our coaches and leading players,”
Danny Wilson explained his reasons for making the switch.
“To coach international rugby and go to a Rugby World Cup is obviously the pinnacle of the sport and the goal of most professional coaches. It was, therefore, a huge honour to be identified by Scotland and offered this role,” he said.
“This has obviously been a little unexpected and happened very quickly, so I’d like to thank Dai Young and Wasps for their consideration and understanding of this situation and wish them the very best of luck for the future.
“I think Scotland have made huge strides in recent years and play an exciting brand of rugby, with an ever-growing, quality player base. I’m really looking forward to working with and learning from Gregor [Townsend] and the rest of the staff and players in Scotland,”
