It sounds crazy but there’s MORE pressure on Glasgow facing Edinburgh than there was when they were taking on French Galacticos Toulouse, says Ryan Wilson

Ahead of Saturday’s clash between Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh in the 1872 Cup, Daily Mail Sport sat down with Premier Sports pundit Ryan Wilson, who has done battle in his fair share of derbies, for his take on what promising to be another enthralling affair…

It’s another massive occasion for both clubs. Glasgow will be favourites but how do you see the Hampden clash unfolding?

RW: I think being favourites actually puts more pressure on Glasgow and takes the pressure off Edinburgh. There won’t be huge expectation on Sean Everitt’s side given how the last few years have gone.

But these games are outliers. You have to separate them from what’s been happening in the league and the Champions Cup because everything changes in a derby match. People will talk about doing the usual things and sticking to the processes but there’s definitely a different feel to these matches.

It becomes a personal battle which is always great to see on the field. So, actually, I think the pressure is on Glasgow more. It sounds absolutely crazy to say but there’s probably more pressure on this game than there was last week against Toulouse.

You had a six-time European champion coming to Scotstoun with a team filled with French Galacticos – although it turned out that the Galacticos on the night were in fact Glaswegian! There was a bit of pressure on Warriors, of course, but not as much. They probably weren’t expected to win that one. Whereas people will expect them to beat Edinburgh and that does put a bit more pressure on you.

These games are also really important in terms of the URC table which can sometimes get forgotten about. So, Glasgow will definitely be targeting five points and Edinburgh will be looking just to get something from the match if they can.

What do you make of using Hampden for this one again? Does it work as a rugby venue?

RW: I think it’s a good idea. Ultimately you’ve got to try and get more people in to watch this game if you can. The amount of people I’ve heard this week saying they would have loved to have been at Scotstoun for that Toulouse game but couldn’t because there weren’t enough tickets.

In the longer term the club has to look at ways to expand Scotstoun but there is definitely demand for a greater capacity. But for the here and now taking it to Hampden, is the right idea.

I think it gives everyone an opportunity to get along. It’s something different. Whether the boys prefer it, I don’t know actually, because Scotstoun is somewhere they love playing and other teams don’t like coming to.

Whereas it almost evens it out a little bit going to Hampden because it’s different for both teams. But on the whole, I think it’s great and hopefully it becomes a regular thing and they can keep growing it year on year. If theycan push it to that 30,000 mark over the next few years, which I think they can, then I think it’s good for everyone.

Franco Smith’s stock is rising again with these Champions Cup wins over Sale Sharks and Toulouse – will his new deal help keep him at Scotstoun if other clubs come calling?

RW: Franco’s stock is definitely rising although I’m not sure if it ever really dropped. We know what he’s capable of. We’ve seen again this season what he’s done with his team and the belief that he’s instilled in them.

He’s had to work with restrictions this year after losing guys like Seb Cancelliere and Henco Venter in the summer. And I still believe there’s a place for a few experienced foreigners around the place. The club needs guys like that, especially when a lot of the lads are in Scotland camp.

But even though he’s been told, ‘No, you can’t have that’ Franco has still managed to find a way. You look at what he’s done with someone like Ollie Smith, playing him at centre, full-back and winger. That is all in preparation for times like this when you’ve got an injury crisis in the back three.

Franco is bloody good at what he does. And he’s always looking at the bigger picture with Scottish rugby. They’ve got hold of him with this new contract but I think they could maybe help him out a little bit more. If they want to really push on in Europe and push for another URC title, I think Franco needs all the help he can get really in terms of players and all the rest of it.

Guys like Huw Jones and Jack Dempsey are going out of contract and a lot of clubs will be sniffing around. So, the SRU need to keep a hold of these guys to help Franco out a little.

Glasgow named their team for this game on Tuesday. Does that make any difference?

RW: I wouldn’t have thought so. Edinburgh would have been able to guess what he was going to do anyway. He was never going to take this one lightly or rotate and rest players.

As I said, there are URC points are up for grabs. So, I think Franco is taking this game as seriously as any other. I think the team was named early just to try to help push ticket sales and let the Glasgow supporters see that he’s sending his best team out there.

These guys know each other so well so where do you think this game will be won and lost?

RW: For Glasgow, it’s about not getting into a dogfight. It’s trying to play exactly the way they did in the second half against Sale and Toulouse. I know for a fact that Edinburgh’s plan will be to come out, get under their skin, try and put them off their rhythm, try and rile them up and destroy the breakdown.

So, if Glasgow can just get that quick ball, get on top of them, and put them under pressure, then I see Edinburgh giving away a few penalties because they’ll be on the back foot and then we’ll see Glasgow do it both ways. They can score some worldy tries by going width to width but also stick it down that corner and go after the line-out.

Glasgow have a few tricks up their sleeve, I think, because obviously Scott Cummings and Grant Gilchrist know each other so well from Scotland. So in the set-piece battle they’ll need to change up a few things.

And as much as it pains me to say, Glasgow can’t get involved in the petty stuff. We all want to see that, don’t we? Everyone wants to see them getting feisty out there on the field. But it’s probably not in Glasgow’s interests to go down that road.

Who are the danger men on both sides this weekend? Who should we be looking out for?

RW: From Edinburgh’s side, Darcy Graham is always elusive. He’s one that I worry about because he’s so prolific in these games. I’m also looking forward to seeing Kyle Steyn going up against Duhan van der Merwe on the wing as that will be cracking, especially with competition for Scotland places ahead of the Six Nations.

The other head-to-head which I’m looking forward to is Jack Dempsey versus Liam McConnell. The back-row battle is an important one so to see how Jack goes against him will be interesting too.