Edinburgh Rugby told they have 'no excuses' this season amid comparison with Glasgow Warriors

A new BKT United Rugby Championship season is upon us, with Glasgow hosting the Sharks on Friday and Edinburgh taking on Zebre in Italy the following day.

Having won the URC in 2024 and been beaten semi-finalists last season, the Warriors are fancied to again challenge for the top prize. Edinburgh made the play-offs last season for the first time in three years but were beaten in the quarter-finals by the Bulls.

It was progress for Sean Everitt’s side but Wilson says there are “no excuses” this season.

Glasgow ‘walk the walk’

“I always get in trouble for putting Edinburgh down slightly more than Glasgow,” said Wilson who spent 13 years with the Warriors and played for them 222 times. “But Glasgow talk the talk, and then they go and walk the walk.

“Edinburgh need to make sure they get their away form right. They have definitely got the squad to do it. They've got the infrastructure. There's no excuses there. They've pretty much got exactly what Glasgow Warriors have, maybe more.

“They've changed their captain up. It was Ben Vellacott and Grant Gilchrist last year and now they've gone with Magnus Bradbury. Maggie's a great character, a genuinely brilliant bloke on and off the field. He's the sort of bloke that leads by example and that's what they need, someone who's going to go and do the dirty work and go after it. So he'll bring a bit of steel.”

Wilson, who along with former Scotland captain John Barclay will front Premier Sports’ coverage of the Glasgow-Sharks game at Scotstoun, is delighted that head coach Franco Smith is staying with the Warriors. It was announced earlier this month that the South African had signed a contract until 2028 and that Gregor Townsend had signed a new deal as Scotland coach until the end of 2027. Everitt’s contract at Edinburgh is up at the end of this season and talks are ongoing about an extension.

Keeping Franco is massive for SRU

“I think it was important to get the whole Gregor Townsend and Franco Smith saga over and done with as quick as possible because there was a lot of chat around that,” said Wilson, speaking on a BKT URC media call.

“There's been different takes on Gregor Townsend's tenure. Is he the right man to carry on the job? I personally think, why change it? He knows those players, he's got a pretty good Test record with them and they've got a big autumn series coming up. So it was really important for Gregor to make sure he put pen to paper with Scotland.

“And then straight afterwards, you obviously get the news of Franco Smith, which is a massive, massive thing for the SRU to keep hold of someone like Franco with the way that he's been since coming in to Glasgow Warriors.

“Sean Everitt, on the other hand, is there at Edinburgh and for me it's a big season for them. They've got to do well. They've actually got Zebre first up, which last season was their bogey team. They lost to them at home and only scraped a draw away. If I was an Edinburgh player that would be the last game that I'd want first up.”