Ryan Wilson, the Glasgow Warriors and Scotland forward, appeared to be facing a fight for his career last night after being banned from playing and training with his club following his conviction for attacking two other players in a late-night incident in a fast-food shop 16 months ago.
Wilson, who has been capped nine times for Scotland, was fined £750 at Glasgow Sheriff Court last week after being found guilty of punching Glasgow Hawks centre Ally Maclay and pulling another Hawks player to the floor in a kebab shop on Glasgow's Great Western Road in October 2013.
Two other Warriors, Ryan Grant and Rory Kerr, also faced assault charges arising from the same incident, but the cases against them were found not proven. Grant has since been recalled to the Scotland squad ahead of Saturday's RBS 6 Nations clash with France in Paris, although that move was heavily criticised by friends of Maclay.
However, the Union has clearly decided to take a hard line with Wilson. In a statement released from Murrayfield it was made clear that the player would effectively be banished from his club for three months, ostracised without pay and unable to play any part in the Warriors' push for a Guinness PRO12 play-off place before the beginning of May.
The 25-year-old's international prospects look grimmer still. Although restrictions on training with the national squad have not been specified, Wilson will not be able to play for Scotland until August 23, a ban that rules him out of involvement in the World Cup warm-up Tests against Ireland on August 15 and Italy on August 22.
The door has been left open for him to make a return for the games against Italy on August 29 and France on September 5, but that would leave little time to mount a realistic challenge for a place in the World Cup squad. On top of which, Wilson's Warriors clubmate Josh Strauss will also become eligible for Scotland around that time, further diminishing his prospects of selection.
The governing body also announced that Wilson is to "undertake a programme organised through Glasgow Warriors and Scottish Rugby to support his personal development around the factors which contributed to the original conviction".
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