TARGET THE STAR SHOTS

Wilson is focused on restricting the influence of Hardie

CHASTENED somewhat by the experience that was dished out at BT Murrayfield last weekend, Glasgow return to the scene of the crime this afternoon after a hard period of reflection.

How on earth a back row of such experience suffered so badly at the hands of their dominant Edinburgh counterparts has been just one of the questions vexing Gregor Townsend and his back- room staff as the bells of the New Year rang in.

Ryan Wilson is still struggling to come to terms with such a rude awakening. The upshot of the discussions with coaches and team-mates is to target the one man who did all the damage.

Wilson may well have respect for Scotland internationalist openside John Hardie, man of the match in the 23-11 Edinburgh win, but he has him firmly in his sights in this evening’s rematch.

He is not alone. The flanker revealed the Glasgow pack have Hardie marked down as Public Enemy No 1.

‘We have to look at Hardie as he played well at the breakdown,’ Wilson told Sportsmail. ‘We’ll be looking to take him out of the game.

‘He’s a great person to have about, he is a good guy and a brilliant rugby player, so he will have had a positive effect on the Edinburgh boys if we let him.

‘When you play against such a quality openside as him, you watch for them all the time in the game and make sure they’re not getting too close to the ball as they can cause you real problems.

‘We have to have an extra sort of awareness when he is around. We have to get into the breakdown a bit quicker than him and make sure we get underneath him when the ball is free.’

As a back-row unit, Wilson and Chris Fusaro on the flanks and Adam Ashe at No 8 were outplayed by Hardie, Mike Coman and Cornell du Preez. Quicker to the breakdown, faster around the field, harder in the tackle, the Edinburgh back-row trio laid the foundations for the victory.

Townsend had never seen his back row come off so badly.

The fall-guy in his selection for today’s encounter is Ashe, with Josh Strauss taking his place but only long-term injuries to Rob Harley and a lack of other options allowed Fusaro and Wilson to keep their starting places.

Indeed, the Glasgow coach was so desperate for new back-row cover he recalled Hugh Blake from the Scotland Sevens squad to take a place on the bench.

Wilson, who will play his 100th game for Glasgow, is desperate to make amends and is well aware he cannot afford another belowpar performance. Determined, focused and willing to match the streetwise Edinburgh approach.

Their tactics frustrated Wilson, who wants Glasgow to play with a higher tempo and avoid the slow pace which would play into Edinburgh’s hands once again.

‘At the breakdown, we’ve just got to clear those bodies out of there,’ he said. ‘They like to slow the game down and there were players on the wrong side of the ruck a lot last week.

‘Whether that’s picked up on by the ref or whether it’s something we need to do something about on our own is another story.

‘We had a look back at the game on video and thought there were a few people off their feet or lying in the way to slow down the ball but I wouldn’t want to judge the referee — it’s up to us to get the job done and get quick ball ahead of them.

‘In saying that, the ref spoke to me towards the end of the first match and said he was going to stop the clock every time there was a stoppage. They kept the game quite slow, but that’s a tactic that they played with.’

Although the derby game has been switched to Murrayfield, Wilson remains confident all is not lost. Knowing that his team were the architects of their own downfall has given him belief they can that learn from their mistakes.

‘We didn’t win the Pro12 title for no reason last year,’ said Wilson. ‘We’re very confident we can even win by 12 points, which will give us the 1872 Cup on aggregate.

‘For that to happen, we need to stick to the game plan and be a bit smarter. We need some quicker ball and to nullify their set-piece and look after ball a bit better.

‘I think there were 19 turnovers from us and 18 from them, so it was quite close in those terms, but set-piece-wise they were way better.

‘I think they had around 15 lineouts and, as we know, Edinburgh like to drive those. At the start of this season, our line-out defence had been pretty good but we were poor last weekend, so we’ll be looking to change that and make amends there.

‘We have to improve and we have Josh Strauss in the side who is a good physical ball carrier, so when we need to go forward he’s a great person to have on the field and we have Huge Blake on the bench who is a top back-row player.

‘Jonny Gray is also returning as captain and is another player you want on the pitch. He plays along with Greg Peterson in the second row — another big unit and one of the biggest hitters in the team, so he will be blasting boys.

‘Overall, that is the physical approach we need in the pack to help us get a win.’