Ryan Wilson warns Scotland Ireland are still world No 2 even without CJ Stander

Scotland No 8 Ryan Wilson during a training session ahead of facing Italy. Picture Ross Parker/SNS

Lions No 8 Stander is out of  Ireland’s next two games after suffering facial fractures in the champions’ chastening Guinness Six Nations opener to England in Dublin.

The Scots look set to be without a key man of their own in tighthead WP Nel, who tore a calf in the 33-20 win over at Italy, and both sides will have to reshuffle their back rows this weekend.

Wilson could shift to blindside after Sam Skinner was released back to his club with an ankle injury, with his former Glasgow team-mate Josh Strauss coming in at No 8.

“He [Stander, pictured] is one of their biggest ball carriers,” said Wilson yesterday. “I’m not sure who will come in instead of him. But he’s a big loss for Ireland, he’s their go-to ball carrier in that back row, so a big loss.”

Fit-again Sean O’Brien replaced his fellow Lion at the Aviva and now looks poised to make what would be his first Six Nations start in two years. That kind of quality back-up hammers home how difficult  Saturday’s match will be, regardless of Ireland’s loss, and Wilson doesn’t think the world No 2 men in green have lost any of their aura.

“It’s the start of a competition and England came out the better team. They started well and played very well, but that doesn’t make Ireland a bad team,” said the 29-year-old.

“They’re still going to come over to Murrayfield second in the world at the moment. They’ll be coming here with all confidence.

“Certainly, they’ll be looking to right some wrongs but we’ve got a few things we want to work on as well, so we’re excited for this one.

“England were just dominant weren’t they? They played really smartly, put the ball in behind Ireland, then pressured them with their defence and when they got the ball they were clinical. I thought England are looking  really strong.

“When England needed to, they had 14 men on their feet and they picked the right opportunities to counter-ruck. They’re really smart around the field. So, again, we’ll look at that game, we’ve had the highlights up around the team room and just have a look at how England beat them, but we’ve got some stuff up our sleeves for ourselves.”

Wilson was in the No 6 jersey two years ago when Vern Cotter’s Scotland defeated Ireland 27-22 for only the second of what is  now three opening weekend wins since 2000.

“We’ve looked at some aspects of how we beat them in that game, in terms of turnovers and how we approached it.

“A big one for this one will be a massive kick battle, the team that kicks the most usually comes out on top and they’ve got two of the best kicking 9 and 10s, really good at putting the ball to foot. We’ll be looking to win that battle as well.”

Scotland have only lost to the All Blacks and Springboks at home in the past two years and have not lost a Six Nations game at  BT Murrayfield since the 2016  Calcutta Cup.

Wilson added: “It’s something we talk about in that changing room, how we’re representing our country and we’re in front of our home nation, and the need to do something for the fans who sell out that stadium over and over again.

“It’s definitely in the back of our minds to do the country proud and especially those who come out to watch us.

“We need to raise it, we know that. We’ve done the job we needed to against Italy and there’s a whole new focus now this week.

“We’ve done our review on Italy. That game’s in the history books now and we can’t change any of that, so we’re looking forward to this week, a massive step up.

“We’re at home and that’s massive for us. There’s a real buzz around Murrayfield at the moment and that’ll play a huge part in it, but we’ve got to start well and we’ve got to be physical with them.”