AFTER a traumatic couple of weeks, Ryan Wilson, the Glasgow Warriors back row, is to get the chance to put it all behind him when he tries to lead the team to victory at Ospreys, his first taste of captaincy for three years. After a period when he was accused of testicle-twisting during a match against Northampton and exonerated at the hearing, then left out of the Scotland squad, called back in for training and overlooked again, it is a welcome relief to concentrate on playing.
"He is someone who gets a lot of respect within the group," explained Gregor Townsend, the Glasgow coach. "He is passionate about the club and he has really stepped up as a top performer over the last few weeks. He played outstandingly well in Northampton and has come back well from the shoulder injury he had. He could have played last week but he had a bit of pain there. It's great that he can captain the side."
With two matches to catch up on the rest of the Guinness PRO12, the RBS Six Nations Championship period is going to be particularly important for Glasgow, who have already lost as many matches this season as they did in the whole of the last campaign and yet again have failed to make any impact in the European Champions Cup.
"We are sitting in eighth place, which obviously isn't ideal, but we have a couple of games in hand and we know that if we go on a winning run then we would be right back in the top four, but we do have some really tough games coming up," Townsend admitted.
They can field a reasonably experienced back but with Scotland demands and a run of injuries in the centre, they have had to press Taqele Naiyaravoro, the giant wing, into service in the midfield. All the players know, however, that this is not just a vital run of games for the club, but also their chance to show they deserve more recognition – none more so than Peter Murchie, the full-back who needed surgery on an elbow in September.
"When you haven't played for a while it is frustrating but it is good to be back on the pitch, I have had a few games for Glasgow Hawks and have been training hard, so I hope I can contribute to the team effort," he said. "There has been a lot of time to work on things week by week – I hope it will show."
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