Gregor Townsend has challenged his Scotland players to regard last weekend’s win over England – their first at Twickenham for 38 years – as just another victory and use it as a springboard to mount a first title challenge for the championship since it became the Six Nations.
Scotland face Wales, who also won last weekend, at Murrayfield on Saturday and are looking to successfully follow a victory over England in the Six Nations for the first time. On the four previous occasions when they won the fixture at Murrayfield, they lost their next match in the championship.
“The growth for us now has to be in backing up big performances,” said Townsend, the Scotland head coach, who has made three changes from Twickenham after injuries to Sean Maitland, Cameron Redpath and Jamie Ritchie. “That means being consistent and tough to beat, something I suppose we have not always been if you look back over the last few years.
“Consistency in performance might not mean that you win every game, but you will get confidence from it so you are able to handle tough moments. We know we are in for a testing game against an experienced Wales side, but we believe in this group and we can be a match for anybody in this championship.”
A year ago, Townsend dropped Finn Russell from the squad for disciplinary reasons, but the Racing 92 outside-half will be vice-captain against Wales after his all-round display at Twickenham. He will have James Lang inside him after Redpath failed to recover from nerve damage in his neck sustained during his impressive Test debut last weekend.
“Finn is one of the players in our six-strong leadership group and it is a natural evolution,” said Townsend. “He has matured over the years and he is very well connected to the team and the coaches. What is not seen is how well he trains and communicates.”
Although Townsend has had to make three changes, none of the call-ups came from last Saturday’s bench. Darcy Graham replaces Maitland on the wing while the Scarlets’ back-rower Blade Thomson takes over from Ritchie, who suffered a hamstring injury against England.
“It is a bit strange not to have any changes involve players who were on the bench, but it was all about getting the right blend,” said Townsend. “It is going to be a different game from Twickenham and we are aware that there were a number of areas where we could have done better, not least taking more of our scoring opportunities. When you have a win like that, there is a concern as a coach that you can take your eye off the ball, but I have not seen that from the players this week.”
Wales have only lost at Murrayfield once on their last six visits, but although their team contains not far short of an average of 60 caps a player, they have had to make five changes after Sunday’s victory over Ireland in Cardiff.
There was also more bad news for Josh Macleod. The uncapped Scarlets flanker, who missed out on his first cap through injury in the autumn, was told on Wednesday he would be making his debut with Dan Lydiate ruled out by knee ligament damage and his replacement against Ireland, Josh Navidi, hampered by a neck problem, only to rupture an achilles tendon in training less than an hour later which will keep him out for six months. Aaron Wainwright starts at No 6 with James Botham joining the replacements.
The Breakdown: sign up and get our weekly rugby union email.
“It is really sad and disappointing for him [Macleod],” said the Wales head coach, Wayne Pivac, who has had to replace three of his three-quarters with Hallam Amos and Johnny Williams ruled out by concussion and George North by a foot problem. Gareth Davies, whose failure to kick the ball out at the end on Sunday gave Ireland a final chance for victory which they spurned, takes over at scrum-half from the hamstrung Tomos Williams. The uncapped Willis Halaholo covers the midfield from the bench.
“Injuries happen and you have to box on,” said Pivac. “We have Liam Williams back, so it is not all doom and gloom. It is an experienced team and it will be an interesting game. Scotland learned a lot from the World Cup and seem to be going from strength to strength. We have a short turnaround and have to travel so we have done a lot in the classroom this week.”