Danny Wilson proud of his work with Glasgow Warriors during difficult times but one result cost him

Wilson, now coach at Harlequins, will lock horns with his old club at the Stoop on Friday in the last 16 of the Champions Cup and expects a tough test against a Warriors side who have risen to second place in the URC under his successor, Franco Smith.

“We are playing a very good side, a large-budget side in Europe that is full of internationals,” said Wilson. “It is going to be a real good challenge. I’m guessing 12 of those internationals will play, the majority of whom were involved in the win over England for Scotland.”

Glasgow’s budget has risen since Wilson’s departure while the Premiership salary cap has put a lid on spending in England and the Quins coach can be forgiven for casting an envious eye north.

“They’ve invested a huge amount of money in that squad – they've built a lot of depth and signed a lot of internationals,” he said.

“It’s gone back up to being able to keep a lot of really good internationals in Scotland. From my time there, I signed Sione Tuipulotu, Jack Dempsey and Josh McKay – they were three signings I was really pleased with. They are guys who have been playing really well for Glasgow, and two of them for Scotland.

“I went to Glasgow in a difficult time with the Covid situation but I am proud of what we slowly built there. We were in a different stage with a lot of players retiring and huge budget cuts at the time. We slowly built that back up and I always said it was a three-year project.

“I didn’t get to the third year of that plain and simply due to the Leinster quarter-final. One of my performance goals was to make the knockout stage of the league and we did that, but that result was an embarrassing result for everyone concerned.

“Ultimately in a very cut-throat world that cost me my job. I’m fully aware of that one game cost me dearly. That’s sport.”