Since there is probably no more formidable figure in world rugby than Leone Nakarawa, his former Glasgow Warriors colleague Ryan Wilson is making no secret of the need to deploy mind games to try to stop the Fijian giant dominating proceedings physically on Saturday.
The closeness of the personal relationship of the pair was demonstrated at the end of last season as, under the message “When uncle Nak Nak comes to visit,” Nakarawa was pictured balancing the youngest of Wilson’s children on his knee and flanked by the other two on the Glasgow co-captain’s Twitter account, his size accentuated by the setting, alongside a Wendy House. They have already met up this week, too and doubtless there will be further socialising this weekend, but not until rather more brutal reintroductions are well and truly out of the way and, while Wilson is fully respectful of what that will involve, he reckons he can unsettle his old pal.
"We know what he's like. He was Euro player of the year last year. He's a dangerous player but we'll see. We can contain him. I can wind him up enough. I know his buttons and I saw him last night so I put something in his water,” he joked.
Nakarawa has admitted that his former team-mates did manage to get to him during the 2016/17 European Champions Cup when Glasgow got the better of Racing 92 home and away, but claimed ahead of last year’s Fiji-Scotland encounter that it would not happen again and duly delivered a monumental performance as his side claimed a famous win.
That said, since Wilson has a reputation for getting under the skin of opponents, his presence on the bench for the first hour of that match may have been among umpteen tricks the Scotland management missed that day and he was unable to do anything to turn things around when he was brought on for the final quarter.
Meantime, Nakarawa has apparently learned a few psychological tricks of his own, apparently letting his newest clubmate and former Glasgow team-mate Finn Russell know just how much he is likely to be targeted by Fiji’s hit men, according to Wilson who knows Scotland cannot make the mistake of paying too much attention to any one man.
"He's been saying that they're all 'gonna run over Finn', because they play with Finn, but the thing with the Fijians is that you are not going to be able to contain all of them at once because they are all outstanding individual players,” he noted.
“We have got a big focus, the last couple of days, of what we have to do, go out and play well, look after the ball, don't give them anything and hopefully come out on top.”
While Scotland have made great play, since Gregor Townsend took charge, of seeking to play what they have repeatedly described as the fastest game in world rugby, they know they have to adapt their approach significantly against opponents who will seize upon the slightest error.
“We've had a little look at that going over to Fiji and what we did wrong and what we need to do better. We've referenced back to that,” said Wilson.
"Those 50/50 balls we have to look after them, make sure we keep hold of the ball, but we'll still be looking to play with tempo. We know we're a fit team and, with them maybe not so fit, we will still be trying to play at tempo, looking to move the ball about but anything 50/50 we look after it, we look after that pill.
"They fire off turnover ball, that is where they score most of their tries. Turnover ball they come alive, sevens style of rugby. We need to hold on to it.”
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