Fraser Brown: Set piece will be key as Scotland bid to make it two from two

Up until last Saturday Scotland had only ever won three of their opening games in the Six Nations. This weekend, against Wales, they have the opportunity to make it two from two for the first time ever in the Six Nations and more importantly, put themselves in an excellent position in the Championship heading into the first fallow week.

Scotland and Wales know each other well having faced each other as recently as last October in Llanelli, when the Scots came out on top.

Both teams know each other well having played their concluding match of the 2020 Six Nations against each other only a few months ago, and although the game wasn’t the display of vintage attacking rugby that many would have hoped for, from a Scotland perspective it was a hugely significant victory, particularly up front where Scotland defended resolutely throughout the 80 minutes and edged the set-piece battle at scrum and lineout.

The set-piece will play another important role at BT Murrayfield on Saturday. Scotland were pretty much on top in the scrum when they won in Llanelli in the autumn and they’ll want to impose themselves there again this weekend but the Welsh front row offers a formidable challenge, with Wyn Jones at loosehead, Tomas Francis back at tighthead and Ken Owens in the middle. I’ve known Ken for a number of years, playing against him both for Glasgow and Scotland. He’s an outstanding hooker, good around the park, a strong scrummager and a very good lineout operator. His battle this weekend with George Turner could have a big bearing on which team come out victorious.

The scrum performance against England at the weekend was good, winning all of our own ball, but I know the boys will have looked back and reviewed it with scrum coach Pieter de Villiers and seen plenty of room to get even better. We lost the speed battle on engagement at times. Win this and you are in a great position to generate go forward at scrum time, lose it and all is not lost but it requires real discipline and togetherness as an eight post-engagement to get back into shape. Scotland have put a huge amount of work into this area over the last year and it is no coincidence that Scotland have now become one of the best scrums in the world. Saturday is another great opportunity to enhance this reputation.

The battle between Wales hooker Ken Owens and Scotland counterpart George Turner will be key this weekend. Picture: David Davies/PA Wire

The lineout will also be a key battleground. Again, it was another area that went well last weekend down in London for Scotland while Wales struggled against Ireland. Jonathan Humphreys, the Wales forwards coach, spent a lot of time on lineout during his spells with Scotland and then at Glasgow and I’m sure he will have spent extra time on it this week in training, especially when you see the threat of Scotland’s defensive lineout.

Not having Jamie Ritchie, Cam Redpath and Sean Maitland available is a big loss for Scotland, all three were key players last week against England. Jamie is one of the defence leaders in the team and his absence will have been missed this week. On the surface, he was probably outshone by the other two boys in the back row last week but the work he does around the breakdown on both sides of the ball and the leadership and organisation he brings to Scotland’s defence has made him a guaranteed starter over the last 18 months.

Blade Thomson comes in for him at blindside flanker and although he’s not quite a like-for-like replacement he’ll bring his own physicality and skillset to the role. Blade was outstanding in defence against Wales in Llanelli and was one of the best defenders in the whole autumn campaign. He’s also a strong ball carrier with the ability to offload, especially in the wide channels, and is another excellent option at the lineout.

It’s also disappointing to lose Cam after his superb debut last week but unfortunately that’s the nature of Test match rugby and the Six Nations - it’s brutal. Let’s hope he’s fit for later in the tournament. James Lang, his replacement at 12, is equally as strong defensively and has a good skill set on the ball having played at ten before.

Sean Maitland also played well last week. His injury is a blow but with Darcy Graham coming in to replace him Scotland have one of the most impactful wingers in the Six Nations to add to their embarrassment of riches in the back three.

Wales have been going through transition under Wayne Pivac and you can see from every game they play they are getting more fluency into their attack. At times they attacked well against Ireland, but these things don’t happen overnight, and Scotland must look to shut down their space and slow the ball up to suffocate Wales’ attack.

A packed BT Murrayfield has been a fortress for Scotland in recent seasons. The support from the crowd is immense. Walking out the tunnel you’re hit with a wall of noise. It doesn’t matter how many times you get to do it; it always raises the hairs on the back of your neck and gives you a feeling of invincibility. It will be a different challenge this week without a crowd but a challenge I know the boys will relish and meet head on.

A message from the Editor:

Get a year of unlimited access to all of The Scotsman's sport coverage without the need for a full subscription. Expert analysis of the biggest games, exclusive interviews, live blogs, transfer news and 70 per cent fewer ads on Scotsman.com - all for less than £1 a week. Subscribe to us today