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'There must have been, he's lying to us, tell us the truth...'
By Liam Heagney
Out-of-favour Scotland forward Ryan Wilson was tongue-in-cheek branded a dinosaur when reacting to international newcomer Freddie Steward telling him that court sessions and drinking japes by the England squad at the end of the Guinness Six Nations are a thing of the past.
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The 21-year-old Steward wrapped up his first-ever Six Nations campaign with a try-scoring effort in the defeat to France last weekend in Paris and how England went on to spend the last night of the tournament together was in sharp contrast to what took place a year ago when Wilson was last capped by Scotland.
The 32-year-old won a surprise 50th Test cap last March when called up by Gregor Townsend shortly before Scotland flew out to Paris and after his first appearance since the 2019 World Cup, a raucous night of celebration followed at the end of a 2021 Six Nations where the Scots signed off with their first win in Paris in 22 years.
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First capped in 2013, it appears that Wilson hails from an old school approach to post-match Test rugby activity given his conversation this week with Steward, the new kid on the England block who made a Test debut just last July.
The fast-emerging full-back regular, whose selection last Saturday on the wing by Eddie Jones dismayed the critics, made an appearance on this week’s RugbyPass Offload, the show Wilson co-hosts with Max Lahiff, the Bristol prop.
Steward provided plenty of insight into the championship but one aspect of life with England left Wilson incredulous and highlighted the eleven-year age difference between the pair. The revelation that amusingly dumbfounded the Scot started out rather innocently, Steward getting asked who was the most entertaining guy in the England camp. Below is Steward’s answer to that question and the conversation which then unfolded between the England player, Wilson and Lahiff:
Steward: The most entertaining in camp? Joe Marler. He is just brilliant. He knows how to get a good laugh and he is a funny guy.
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Wilson: Is he the one who runs all the court stuff? Who runs all that stuff at the end? Surely you had a bit of a court session?
Steward: We actually didn’t. There was no court session at the end… there wasn’t too much. We had a couple of beers in Italy after the (round two) game. I remember it was Ollie Chessum’s debut. He is with me at Tigers, so he had a couple of drinks that was entertaining, it was all good fun.
Wilson: So no court session?
Lahiff: It’s not like that anymore, old pro. You’re a dinosaur, pal.
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Wilson: There must have been, he is lying up us. Tell us the truth!
Steward: I promise you. We went to a cider factory in the Bristol (training) week, which was good fun but there was nothing outrageous.
Lahiff: You went down to Thatchers?
Steward: We did, yeah.
Lahiff: How good is it?
Steward: To see all the machinery and how it all works was actually class and we did a cider tasting.
Wilson: So you watch France win their trophy, the fireworks, wonderful, you have a beer in the changing room, you get back to the hotel and you go, ‘We’re just going to bed’?
Steward: No, no, it wasn’t that sudden. We had a couple of beers in the team room together. It was nice. There was nothing mental but it was nice. A good way to sort of end it.
Wilson: No one took it a bit far?
Steward: No, no, surprisingly not. The boys were well behaved.
Wilson: Tight lips. Loose lips sink ships.
