Ben White repays Scotland Six Nations faith - 'we’re a bit sick of having the same story written'

Scotland's Ben White celebrates with team-mates after scoring his try against England.

Given the Glasgow Warriors scrum-half’s contribution to the national side across 58 appearances, it is perhaps not surprising that eyebrows were raised when he didn’t even make the bench. But sentiment plays little part in selection and Ben White got the nod as the starting nine after impressing Gregor Townsend with his recent form for London Irish. He repaid the faith shown in him by the coach with a bright performance in Scotland’s 29-23 win. Most tellingly, he scored the visitors’ third try to cut England’s lead to a single point 11 minutes into the second half.

White, 24, announced himself in this fixture last year, coming off the bench to score a brilliant debut try in Scotland’s 20-17 win at Murrayfield. They followed it up with a deflating defeat in Wales but White believes the squad has toughened up over the past 12 months and that there is a determination to avoid a repeat when the Welsh come to Edinburgh this weekend.

“I think you can see the mindset shift,” he said. “As soon as the whistle sounded we went right into a huddle on the pitch. We’re a bit sick of having the same story written. You know, beat England and then lose to Wales. We want to make it two wins from two and give a performance the nation can be proud of, it’s as simple as that. We are very clear on what we want to do and where we want to go as a group.”

Wales will come north stung by their heavy defeat against Ireland in Cardiff. White is aware they have had the measure of Scotland in the last two seasons and haven’t lost at Murrayfield since 2017. “We know we need to back this up, it’s something we are very aware of and something we spoke about at the end of the game,” he said. “It’s all well and good doing it on Saturday. But we’re now facing a Wales team that lost so we know they are going to come and try to right that wrong. We need to focus on us. We need to get the mental stuff right. Wales are a good team, it’s as simple as that. But we have good players too and we just need to be confident. We are trying to be a smart team. We need to be focused from minute one. We need to be clinical in attack, it’s all on us.”

Saturday’s game was White’s tenth cap but only his second start for Scotland. The Stoke-on-Trent-born half-back has had to be patient but now looks to be in the box-seat to retain the jersey for the Wales game. His selection was one of two huge calls made by Townsend in the back division, the other being the decision to opt for Huw Jones ahead of Chris Harris at outside centre. With White and Jones both scoring tries against England, the coach can feel satisfied with his choices although you suspect the experienced Price and Harris will have roles to play as the championship unfolds.