'My most painful day with Glasgow' - Warriors return to scene of crime

Glasgow Warriors will return to the scene of their darkest moment during Danny Wilson’s watch when they take on Benetton at the Stadio Monigo in Treviso on Saturday lunchtime.

Glasgow head coach Danny Wilson.

Back in April, they suffered a humiliating 46-19 defeat to the Italians at his venue and their head coach has challenged his players to prove that the lessons learned that day have stuck.#

Wilson says he draws some consolation from that game being the turning point for his team ahead of a strong end to last season – but admits that the experience has left a deep psychological scar.

“Up until that point the season had been painful, and that day was the most painful I’ve experienced with Glasgow, ” he said. “So, that’s still in our minds and we want to put it right with a much better performance this weekend.

“The positive was that it was the catalyst for us to sit down and say that we understand that it has been a very difficult season for everyone involved, but we have to be better than this,” he continued.

“I thought the leadership group after that game were immense. They, along with the coaches, debriefed the whole thing, in terms of how we all turned up mentally – and I felt we bounced back really well.

“It was a telling moment because we didn’t lose a game from then on, including beating Leinster in the last game of the season.”

Treviso won their first two games of this season, at home to the Stormers and Edinburgh, but have since lost three on the trot.

“If we do get a win, then that’s massive in terms of our United Rugby Championship pool – and they’ve still got to come to us which would then be to our advantage,” Wilson added. “But the first hurdle is the only one we are focussed on, to beat them away, which I think would be a massive win for us – probably the biggest win so far if we can get it done.”

Wilson has named 12 players who got game-time for Scotland during the recent Autumn Test Series in his match-day squad. However, he has rested his two British and Irish Lions – prop Zander Fagerson and scrum-half Ali Price – while second-row Scott Cummings has a minor shoulder injury.

The other notable absentee is newly capped Scotland hooker Ewan Ashman, who was unveiled on Monday as a loan signing until the end of the season but has now been recalled by Sale Sharks as emergency injury cover.

“Sale need him to play this weekend and he wasn't due to play for us, although he has been here getting up to speed with things,” said Wilson. “This is a one-off, a bit of goodwill between two clubs and a game for Ewan – but you'll see him playing for us very soon.”