Franco Smith has a reputation as being a bit of a stern figure who has no time for light-hearted banter, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Nobody has done more than my old head coach at Glasgow in giving us a glimpse of what life is like behind the scenes at Scotstoun.
He’s allowed Premier Sports — and me in particular — access to areas you wouldn’t ordinarily get to see on live television.
Premier Sports is where I cut my teeth as a pundit so it’s brilliant news that they’ve extended their contract to cover the URC in the UK for another four years, including continuing to show every Glasgow and Edinburgh match.
Since retiring as a player and moving across to the other side of the fence, I’ve loved working for them.
As a broadcaster with an open mind, they’ve given me free rein to suggest ideas for what I think would work well as part of our coverage.
Ryan Wilson, shown above right with Sione Tuipulotu, says it’s important to bring a sense of fun and engagement to rugby coverage
Glasgow boss Franco Smith has been a great help in allowing the TV cameras behind the scenes access, says former Warriors star Wilson
Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt has also been brilliant to work with for Premier Sports team
No matter how outlandish those ideas might seem at times, they’ve yet to say no to me. I’ll need to come up with something really outrageous to see where the line is!
I’ve always felt that rugby should try to be as entertaining off the pitch as it is on, and we’ve aimed to bring that sense of fun and engagement to our coverage, with myself, John Barclay, Simon Zebo, Tom Shanklin, Stephen Ferris and others always up for a bit of a laugh.
Franco has been brilliant on that front. He totally gets why we do what we do and that it’s all about trying to grow the game and make it more interesting, especially to try to pull in new and younger audiences.
I go to him with an idea and his reply is always: “Why not? Let’s do it”. He knows the script and that we’re trying to push boundaries and entertain people.
Franco gave us the green light to do the walk-and-talk interviews where I can grab any of the Warriors players at full-time at Scotstoun, whereas in the past the rule was you only got to speak to the head coaches and the player of the match in a formal interview setting.
That’s a brilliant development, although a few of my old team-mates seem to forget they’re talking to the nation and not just their pal and keep swearing during our chats. I’m forever apologising for their bad language on air.
For me, a big part of our coverage is about trying to bring out the players’ personalities a little bit more if we can. We’ve all seen what they can do on the pitch, but a lot of them have got plenty more string to their bows than that.
Josh McKay’s got a YouTube channel where he goes free diving for scallops and hunting deer, while Jamie Bhatti is a qualified pilot. I was meant to be going up in the plane with him recently for another feature, so hopefully we can rearrange that one soon — which might be madness!
Ryan Wilson will be broadcasting from Edinburgh’s game with Sharks on Friday night
Franco Smith understands the importance of selling the game to a wider and younger audience
Glasgow’s Sione Vailanu, above left, shares a humorous moment with presenter Wilson
So these are all brilliant stories to tell. Rugby needs personalities if the sport is to grow, which is why I love the stir Henry Pollock is causing down south. He’s the definitive Marmite figure and a lot of folk don’t like him but I love the way he winds people up and has fun with his celebrations.
He reminds me a lot of what I was like as a player — except I didn’t have anywhere near his talent! But he’s bringing fresh eyes to rugby and getting people talking about the game and that can only be a good thing.
I’m still learning about the media after crossing over from the other side, and one guy I love listening to is Ally McCoist. The passion he has for football shines through every time he’s on commentary and you can’t help but get drawn into whatever match he’s working on.
I try to bring that same enthusiasm, although I’m such a big Warriors fan because of my long connection to the club that I sometimes go too far the other way.
I’m so desperate for them to win every game that I forget I’m meant to be an impartial commentator. So, trying to keep a professional head on things is something I’m working on, although sometimes you just get caught up in the moment.
Despite my Glasgow links, I have to say that Sean Everitt at Edinburgh has also been brilliant with me whenever I’m working on their matches, like I am on Friday night when they take on the Sharks at the Hive.
Having two Scottish clubs doing well can only be good for the game up here so I always like to see Edinburgh winning — apart from in the 1872 Cup derbies of course!
Ryan Wilson is part of the Premier Sports team bringing every Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors game live in the BTK URC throughout the competition.
Premier Sports will be UK host broadcaster of all 151 URC fixtures every season until 2029.
Tune in Friday evening for all the action as Edinburgh host Hollywoodbets Sharks at Hive Stadium (live on Premier Sports 1 from 7pm), plus there’s every minute of Glasgow Warriors’ trip to Zebre Parma on Saturday (live on Premier Sports 2 from 7.30pm).
To get all the action from URC, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, Top 14, Japan League One and MLR, visit
www.premiersports.com
