Date: Sunday, 12 February
Kick-off: 1500 GMT
What a week it has been in Scottish Rugby. Summed up in a word, you could do worse than 'regrettable'.
Last weekend's game saw Scotland fail to take their chances, losing to an English side that they should have beaten. Days later, Dan Parks announced his immediate retirement and the fallout has seen many a friend and colleague bestow generous plaudits, as well as the longtime critics congratulate a man with their tails between their legs upon realising the fact that Parks gave much more than he ever took.
That was the last few days. Scotland now have only a few days to prepare for their clash in Cardiff in what has traditionally been an unpredictable and entertaining fixture with the Welsh.
The memory of 2010 will still be very vivid in many minds, Scottish and Welsh for the way that cam started with Chris Paterson going off after minutes of his 100th cap for Scotland, to Thom Evans being stretchered off after fracturing his spine in a collision with Lee Byrne to the final 7 minutes where Scotland threw it all away, conceding 17 points and the game in one of the most pulsating climaxes to a 6 Nations game in living memory.
Can we expect the same again? Probably not, but who am I to say.
Scotland have made only two changes to their starting 15, both forced with Laidlaw coming in for Parks and Geoff Cross stepping in for the absent Euan Murray. Many thought that the midfield would be re-jigged following a lack of penetration and basic handling mistakes on Saturday, but Robinson has stuck to his guns and believes his choice then is still the right one to take on a formidable Welsh backline.
Aside from Murray's withdrawal (due to his personal beliefs, he doesn't play on Sundays), it is good to see some consistency in the pack selection. All three members of the back row, Rennie, Strokosch and Calcutta Cup man of the match David Denton looked fresh and mobile and should match their Welsh counterparts toe-to-toe.
As discussed previously in this blog in reaction to the Calcutta Cup clash, the introdution of Laidlaw for his first start for Scotland should lead to some better distribution through the hands and a bit more penetration from the likes of Sean Lamont. He doesn't have the tactical kicking prowess of Dan Parks, something that Scotland have used well away from Murrayfield in the past, but Laidlaw has the ability to help Scotland play more adventurously and maybe even lead to some tries.
David Denton will look to add to his
excellent display against the English
The Welsh will be in fine spirits following their late comeback victory over the Irish at the Aviva. With that away win and 3 home games this year, they are all of a sudden turning into tournament favourites in many eyes.
The outstanding feature of their win on Sunday was the variety and the combination of creativity and brute power in the backline, typified by George North who bowled over Gordon D'Arcy as if he wasn't there only to offload out the back door to Jonathan Davies who took his second try of the game.
There will be some interesting match-ups in Cardiff, some fair, some not so fair. Lee Jones will have his hands very full in his second cap with George North to cover. Sean Lamont and Jamie Roberts are specifically picked to batter holes in the defence and make yards and it'll be fascinating to see David Denton and Toby Faletau scrapping it out at the breakdown.
As I have mentioned before, only the very optimistic will see the Scots pick up a win on Sunday, but given the way they lost against England, I think most Scots fans will be looking for some execution and a ruthless streak in their play that will hopefully reap some points.
It should be a great match with all the fireworks and passion that is so associated with both countries. I can't wait.
Wales:
15. L Halfpenny, 14. A Cuthbert, 13. J Davies, 12. J Roberts, 11. G North, 10. R Priestland , 9. M Phillips, 1. G Jenkins, 2. H Bennett, 3. A Jones, 4. R Jones, 5. I Evans, 6. D Lydiate, 7. S Warburton, 8. T Faletau
Bench: 16. K Owens, 17. P James, 18. L Reed, 19. A Powell, 20. L Williams, 21. J Hook, 22. S Williams
Scotland:
15. R Lamont, 14. L Jones, 13. N De Luca, 12. S Lamont, 11. M Evans, 10. G Laidlaw, 9. C Cusiter, 1. A Jacobsen, 2. R Ford (c), 3. G Cross, 4. R Gray, 5. J Hamilton, 6. A Strokosch, 7. R Rennie, 8. D Denton
Bench: 16. S Lawson, 17. E Kalman, 18. A Kellock, 19. J Barclay, 20. M Blair, 21. D Weir, 22. S Hogg
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