Rugby players, by their very nature, are a hardy old lot.
Let’s face it, they tend to be involved in the kind of bone-shuddering collisions you used to get when two dinosaurs embarked on the mating process.
The rough and tumble, of course, is part and parcel of this business. But what about the rock 'n' roll?
“I was bloody nervous but once I got my microphone in my hand I morphed into character,” said Ryan Wilson as he reflected on a charity gig that he and his musical Glasgow Warriors team-mates performed in the city’s Hard Rock Cafe last week.
Leading off with that rousing Queen sing-along We Will Rock You, Wilson clearly revelled in being the front man although those initial heebie-jeebies could have led to him being more Fred Dibnah than Freddie Mercury.
It was alright on the night, though.
“I was more nervous than for a rugby match,” added Wilson of a concert that raised over £10,000 for the Glasgow Children’s Hospital.
“It’s the unknown. You get nervous before every game but you know what you’re doing. As soon as that ball gets kicked, everything goes away and you forget about the nerves.
“With this though, I didn’t know whether the nerves would go away. Once I had that microphone in my hand, there was no way I was giving it back.
“It went alright except for the first song. Lee Jones didn’t have his guitar plugged in properly. I was there singing and saying ‘ah boys that was awesome’ and all the musicians behind me were going ‘no mate, we messed that one up’.”
Wilson and his Warriors colleagues can’t afford any mess ups as they continue their push to climb the PRO14 charts and make the play-offs.
The last time Glasgow squared up to the Dragons in Wales they lost with a downbeat display that had more bum notes than a dodgy tribute act. Having got themselves back on song though, Wilson is keen to keep the momentum going.
“Every game for us is a must-win now,” said the combative No 8. “We saw Ulster slip up at the weekend [v Ospreys] and Cheetahs not get a point out of their game [v Leinster] so we’re closing in on those guys at the top. We’ve got to keep the pressure on.”
Talk of a new contract at Glasgow was music to Wilson’s ears and the Aldershot-born Scotland cap had no hesitation in putting pen to paper on a two-year deal when in-coming coach, Danny Wilson, made his plans clear.
“When Danny phoned and had a chat, that made me pretty happy,” said Wilson, who has not given up hope of a return to the Scotland fray.
“It took a little bit of pressure off because when you knock on the other side of 30, you start to worry and you start to think of life after rugby.
“I think there are a few years left in me yet, though, and I’m probably hitting my prime.
“You always want to play for your country. I’ve had a few messages saying ‘have I retired from international rugby? but I don’t think I’ll do that until I retire from club rugby.
“Until then, my hopes are still there.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here