BRUTE FORCE

Wilson vows to get stuck into Samoa

SCOTLAND will fly out of the blocks at Murrayfield today in search of a ‘brutal and aggressive’ edge to their game against big-hitting Samoa.

Gregor Townsend, who will make his home bow as head coach in front of what is fast approaching a sell-out crowd, has set his side the target of becoming the fastest in world rugby — with a licence to thrill.

To do so, however, they must first win the battle up front, with Ryan Wilson stressing the need for the forwards to be uncompromising in their approach in order to let Scotland’s much-vaunted back division off the leash.

‘To play quick rugby, you’ve got to be brutal and aggressive,’ said the back-row star. ‘The contact area is what makes you

play quick rugby. If you’ve got slow ball and you’re not brutal and aggressive at the contact area, you aren’t going to get quick ball. ‘With players like Ali Price and Henry Pyrgos behind those rucks, looking to play and make things happen, we want to get that quick ball. ‘We can get better at that. But there are plenty of players in this group who have that edge to them. We’ll be looking for that, for sure.’ Scotland only just saw off the Samoans in a titanic World Cup clash in Newcastle two years ago, with Wilson admitting: ‘We expect the same approach from them again. ‘They’ve got some outstanding individuals and they’re so unpredictable. With the ball in hand, they’re so dangerous — and we’re going to have to be at our best to beat them.’ Wilson is cautious about trying to do too much with the ball in hand, however. ‘They’re a team that loves to chuck the ball around and express themselves,’ he said. ‘They’ve got some outstanding individual players and they are just so unpredictable with the ball in hand. ‘When you play against these teams, if you try and match them, you probably won’t get near them. ‘We know what we have to do, we have to make sure we don’t get carried away with the type of rugby we play.’