Ryan Wilson: Talks cleared air with attack victim

SCOTLAND flanker Ryan Wilson has revealed he held a clear-the-air meeting with the Glasgow Hawks player he assaulted in an incident which led to a criminal conviction and six-month ban from international rugby.

Ryan Wilson remains focused during training at Murrayfield yesterday. Picture: SNS

Wilson was found guilty of punching Hawks captain Ally Maclay in a Glasgow takeaway restaurant during a night out in October 2013. He was fined £750 by the court and given a three-month club suspension without pay by the SRU, with an extended ban from the national team. The Glasgow Warriors player, who has ten caps, was also told to undertake a programme organised through his club and the SRU “to support his personal development around the factors which contributed to the original conviction”.

The back-row forward returned to play his part in Glasgow’s 2015 Guinness Pro12 final victory and rejoined the Scotland team in last Saturday’s 48-7 win over Italy at BT Murrayfield.

On Tuesday he was named in Vern Cotter’s 31-man World Cup squad.

Yesterday Wilson faced the media for the first time since his conviction and said that he had met Maclay at a leisure centre in Anniesland.

“We had a chance for a sit-down and that was that,” said the 26-year-old Wilson. “It was a few weeks after. I’m not sure how it was arranged. I think it was the SRU and maybe Ally had been in touch.

“Big Al [Kellock] said to me one day, ‘listen, sit down with him and clear the air and make sure there’s nothing there’. It put it behind us.”

Wilson, who was yesterday named in Cotter’s team to face France in Paris tomorrow night, which will be Scotland’s final warm-up match before the World Cup starts, added: “I regret the whole situation. I regret everything about it now.

“It is in the past and I’m moving on with the rugby. I am looking forward to getting out and playing again this week.”