His older brother Dr Fergus Wilson, who later became an orthopaedic surgeon, was also involved with rugby at the university and later coached various teams.
Wilson made his international debut in 1957, starting as a flanker for the Wallabies against the All Blacks in Sydney,[6] and although he was the incumbent Queensland state captain he was not selected for the 1957–58 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France.
Wilson made a further state appearance against the visiting British & Irish Lions in 1959 but this would be his last representative game in Australia.
All told he played for Australia twelve times, four of which were Tests and captained the side in eleven of those appearances.
In the early 1960s Wilson undertook post-graduate studies in England and Scotland and played with the Edinburgh Wanderers.
The following year he was an integral part of the Wallabies' coming-of-age on the 1984 Grand Slam tour of Britain and Ireland.