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Wasps' new forward coach Wilson abandons club for international job

Danny Wilson

Wasps have confirmed that their new forwards coach Danny Wilson is not taking up his role with the club and will be joining the Scottish set-up instead

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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.”

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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.”

Wilson’s move to Wasps was announced back in December with Wasps Director of Rugby Dai Young saying at the time “While I have only worked with Danny for a limited time when he was part of the Academy set-up at Cardiff Blues, I know he has gone on to forge a very strong reputation as a quality coach who is highly regarded within the game, having made a big impact with the teams he’s worked with.

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Wilson meanwhile had spoken enthusiastically about working alongside Young.

“The opportunity to work with Dai was one of the big attractions of moving to Wasps. He is a very experienced director of rugby and I could see the quality of his coaching during his time at Cardiff Blues. His record with Wasps goes before him, having taken the squad from 11th place to the Premiership Final during his time at the club.

“I’m looking forward to learning from him as a coach next season and to being part of the infrastructure Wasps are creating. The ambition of the club is clear to see. They have a talented group of players who play a really exciting style of rugby that attracts big crowds. It will be exciting to be part of.”

But it appears the opportunity to work at international level and a World Cup on the horizon, has prompted a change of heart by Wilson.

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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