Preview: Scotland v Wales

Scotland host Wales in Saturday's Six Nations clash at Murrayfield, with both sides out to pocket a first win in the 2011 championship.

Scotland host Wales in Saturday's Six Nations clash at Murrayfield, with both sides out to pocket their first win in this year's championship after suffering defeats in Round One.
Scotland lost on the opening weekend of the tournament for the eleventh time in twelve attempts, losing 34-21 to defending Grand Slam champions France in Paris last Saturday.
However, the defeat was just Scotland's second loss in eight Tests while Wales will be hell-bent on ending a winless run that has seen them without a victory in their last eight games. A Welsh win will also help avoid their worst-ever run of 10 straight losses, under then-coach Steve Hansen in 2002/03.
Under-pressure Wales coach Warren Gatland received a vote of confidence from his employers earlier this week as they insisted sacking the New Zealander was the furthest thing from their minds.
In November, during the middle of a trough which dates back to last season, the WRU chose to give Gatland a four-year contract extension rather than wait until after this year's World Cup in New Zealand before making a decision on the former Ireland and Wasps boss's future.
Whether the WRU could now afford to sack Gatland, even if they wanted to, remains an open question but his employers were adamant the Kiwi was still the man for the job in pure rugby terms.
But it is also time for his players to stand up and be counted, justifying the exalted status they enjoy among the Welsh rugby public. Gatland will parade a team containing 438 caps at Murrayfield – and they need to start performing like the experienced international players many of them are.
Keep errors to a minimum, keep discipline at all times, keep composure and keep the opposition guessing, rather than take one predictable option after another.
Once those players cross the whitewash, it is down to them.
Wales may only have three wins at Murrayfield in 20 years but have had the wood on Scotland with six wins in the last seven years, including a narrow 31-24 win last year at the Millennium Stadium when they overturned a 21-9 deficit early in the second half.
However Scotland coach Andy Robinson – who recently signed a contract extension until after the 2015 Rugby World Cup – is only focused at the game at hand, rather than seeking to avenge last year's result.
“That game's gone now,” he said.
“This is about what's going to happen at Murrayfield on Saturday and two sides looking to perform.”
Robinson will take plenty heart from his sides defeat in Paris, where the Scots managed to put three tries past the French – equalling the same amount of five-pointers Scotland scored in their entire Six Nations campaign last year. So it's a promising start.
However, Scotland conceded possession too easily at the Stade de France and were punished. Robinson will hope the hosts will not relinquish the ball too often against a Wales side full of dangerous runners including James Hook, who starts in the Wales number ten jersey for the first time since 2009.
There has been a clamour for Hook to take the keys to the fly-half position for Wales in place of the more pedestrian though much more experienced Stephen Jones. It's a gamble, but Gatland has now bowed to that pressure.
It's a move which has been backed by Hook's inside man Jamie Roberts who believes the Perpignan-bound star will deliver and make his presence felt when he takes the critical fly-half role.
“I think James' talents are there for all to see,” said Roberts.
“He has obviously not played 10 too much in the last couple of years with the Ospreys, but personally I think he is a 10. I think he has got the attributes.
“To have him at 10, he's a huge running threat in himself. As a centre, that makes your job so much easier. It takes a lot of pressure off you when the guy inside you is keeping defences honest, and James certainly does that.
“He also has a very good kicking game. He can kick the ball a fair distance, and he is very accurate with that. His distribution game is good, he's a very silky runner and his offload game is up there with the best.
“So for myself and (centre) Jonathan Davies to have James inside us, he's a very gifted individual and hopefully we can strike the right balance.”
Only time will tell.
Ones to watch:
For Scotland: Scotland's scrum came under attack from Les Bleus, leading some to suggest Euan Murray could lose his place at tighthead prop. However, that wasn't to be the case and the front-rower gets another crack to make up for last weekend's scrum woes.
For Wales: It's been said before, James Hook will be going into the weekend with a lot to prove.
Head to head: The second row. Wales lock Bradley Davies had a stormer against England, and his duel with Scotland number four Richie Gray – whose shock of blonde hair allied with a couple of barn-storming runs to make him a stand-out performer against France – should be one of the more interesting tussles in the game.

Previous results:
2010: Wales won 31-24 in Cardiff
2009: Wales won 26-13 in Edinburgh
2008: Wales won 30-15 in Cardiff
2007: Scotland won 21-9 in Edinburgh
2006: Wales won 28-18 in Cardiff
2005: Wales won 46-22 in Edinburgh
2004: Wales won 23-10 in Cardiff
2003: Wales won 23-9 in Cardiff
2003: Scotland won 30-22 in Edinburgh
2002: Scotland won 27-22 in Cardiff
2001: Drew 28-28 in Edinburgh
2000: Wales won 26-18-26 in Cardiff
Prediction: It is likely to be a closely fought match but boosted by a home crowd this weekend, Scotland go in as favourites and we fancy they could well justify that favouritism. Scotland to win by three points.
The teams:
Scotland: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Max Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Kelly Brown, 7 John Barclay, 6 Nathan Hines, 5 Al Kellock (capt), 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Rosss Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Moray Low, 18 Richie Vernon, 19 Ross Rennie, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Ruaridh Jackson, 22 Sean Lamont.

Wales: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Morgan Stoddart, 13 Jamie Roberts, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Matthew Rees (c), 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 John Yapp, 18 Jonathan Thomas, 19 Josh Turnbull , 20 Tavis Knoyle, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Rhys Priestland.

Date: Saturday, February 12
Kick-off: 17:00 GMT
Venue: Murrayfield
Referee:George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)