Scotland heroics convert Alex Grove's famous grandad Wylie to rugby

Published on Thursday 26 November 2009 23:00

HE WITNESSED some atmospheres in the days when he was scoring goals for Aston Villa, and felt the tension when managing West Bromwich Albion in the last of their heydays in the 1980s, but, according to his grandson, Ron Wylie has never been excited as he was in Murrayfield in the final stages of Saturday's Test match.

• Alex Grove celebrates after Scotland's win over Australia at Murrayfield. Picture: Ian Rutherford

Glasgow-born Wylie was a footballer who played right-half or inside forward for Notts County, Villa and Birmingham City, going on to make more than 700 appearances in the senior game and claiming the Second Division title and League Cup. Now 76, he has had his attentions turned to the oval-ball game by Alex Grove, the son of his daughter, who made his international debut in Andy Robinson's new team against Fiji a fortnight ago. Wylie was there on Saturday when Grove continued to impress the Murrayfield crowd with thumping tackles that made supporters recoil.

Grove was doing well with Scotland 'A', when Robinson plucked him from Worcester as one of his new faces on the tour of Romania, the centre having been recommended also by the Scottish age-grade coaches who had watched him emerge from the exiles network, out of 'the' Rugby School, of William Webb Ellis fame. The rugby is certainly making for more enjoyable watching right now than the football, but Wylie appears to have taken to it with some enthusiasm.

"I don't want to comment on the football," said Grove, smiling, diplomatically, "but he (Wylie] is enjoying himself watching us.

"He really came to life last weekend and said it was one of the best weekends of his life, and he wasn't even playing. I don't know, but he certainly got very excited. He obviously realises what the atmosphere around football is like and that football is a major sport in comparison with rugby, but when he heard the cheering in the last five minutes, the noise was just unbelievable, and it just overwhelmed him."

The youngster, who turns 22 on Monday, laughed when asked whether his grandfather now fancied a return to football management, with Scotland. But he clearly has more pressing issues on his mind than worrying about Scotland's football standing, and his attitude towards ensuring the rugby team finish the Bank of Scotland Autumn Test series with a first clean sweep since 2002, when they saw off Romania, South Africa and Fiji, underlines the maturity that has so impressed his coaches.

"It's quite easy to put the Australia game firmly in the past and move on," he said. "We have quite a quick turnaround and a lot to achieve in a week in terms of preparation for Argentina, so it was important that we did switch off from Australia hype and celebrations and focus the minds quickly on this weekend.

"Of course, it's important that you recognise the fact that we've made a bit of history and celebrate that to an extent, but in this sort of environment you have to move on straight away and focus on Argentina, which is what we've done.

"Argentina are a quality side, with some dangerous players. (Juan Martin] Fernandez Lobbe, their captain, is a huge player for them and we have to target him and stop him getting into the game early on, but what Andy has been saying is that it's about ourselves – we're in control of the game – and it's true. We want to be able to run the ball a bit more and play with the ball in hand more than we have in the last couple of weeks."

Grove has also been asked to shift position, to accommodate the return of Ben Cairns at outside centre. The youngster has made the No 13 jersey his own at Worcester and with Scotland this season to date, but he is comfortable with the move.

"I have played more at outside centre this year, but having played with Ben in Romania (at inside centre], and quite a bit last season at Worcester, it's not such a daunting prospect. Ben's a quality player and it's similar to how it was playing outside Graeme Morrison in the last couple of weeks, having someone of Ben's experience talking to me.

"It's not like I'm moving to fly-half, a position where I might be controlling the whole game, but I'd like to be able to play both positions. I don't think of myself as definitely a 13 or definitely a 12; I'd like to be versatile and I realise that playing 12 is more a ball-player's role and a position where I have to make more decisions and bring more people into the game, which we're trying to do this week."

He acknowledged that retaining the starting jersey, when Cairns and Morrison were the preferred choices before the autumn Test series began, was the crux for him, and with Glasgow's Max Evans also looking for a return to the side Grove is intent on leaving 2009 with the kind of impression he opened it with in Bucharest.

"I do feel like I'm living the dream at the moment; it's almost a surreal experience," he added. "It was fantastic to win those games and we're confident we can go one better now and get three from three.

"I think there should be an excitement building (in Scotland]. You could hear the support at the end and how well the fans were getting behind us on Saturday, and could tell how excited they were getting. If they can bring that sort of energy on Saturday it will be great."

WYLIE FACTFILE

• Born 6 August, 1933

&#149 Begins career at Notts County as an inside forward in 1950 after signing from Clydesdale Juniors. Plays 227 games and scores 35 goals before moving to Aston Villa.

&#149 Villa re-invent Wylie as a clever right half, and the Scot helps them win promotion and the Second Division title in the 1959/60 season.

&#149 Joins Birmingham City in 1965 after 196 games and 16 goals for city rivals Villa.

&#149 Becomes club captain and plays 150 games before retiring from playing at 37.

&#149 Appointed West Brom manager in 1982. Replaced by Johnny Giles in 1984, but returns to Villa, working in a number of roles before retiring in 2003.