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Scotland's Wilson free to face Ireland

Ryan Wilson with the Calcutta Cup
Ryan Wilson with the Calcutta Cup

Scotland forward Ryan Wilson is free to face Ireland after being cleared of making contact with the eye area of England's Nathan Hughes.

A citing for alleged foul play against the Glasgow captain was dismissed at a disciplinary hearing in London.

Television cameras caught the back rows clashing off the ball with Wilson, who was pinned to the floor, raking his right hand across the side of Hughes' face. Wilson would have faced a minimum four-week ban if the panel had found him guilty.

Despite ruling that the back-rower had committed an act of foul play by making contact with the face of Hughes, a disciplinary committee accepted medical evidence that the player has a pre-existing condition that causes two of his fingers to be involuntarily bent and although the contact had been reckless, it was unintentional as a result of attempts to grab his opponent's shirt.

It provides a further boost for Gregor Townsend's squad as they prepare to take on Ireland in Dublin next week after they also escaped punishment for the tunnel fracas that took place prior to Saturday's 25-13 victory over England.

Video footage showed Owen Farrell colliding with Wilson in the BT Murrayfield tunnel as the two sides headed to their dressing rooms following the pre-match warm-ups, before several members of the Scotland squad stepped in.

Meanwhile, Scotland forwards coach Dan McFarland insists their stunning defeat of England will mean nothing if they do not back it up against Ireland.

"We consider ourselves to be a good team," he said. "If you believe in what you are capable of doing the pressure is on you to go out and produce that consistently.

"If you want to demonstrate to people the quality of your team, you have to do it consistently.

"The victory is great and we really enjoyed that and it will be a good memory for us to keep but it moves on.

"We are preparing for Ireland now, that is the next step."

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