Grant Gilchrist on what went right and wrong for Scotland against Wales and the importance of not getting carried away

Winning their opening two games in the Guinness Six Nations takes Scotland into uncharted territory and Grant Gilchrist has stressed the importance of not getting carried away.

Impressive as they have been in racking up bonus-point victories over England and Wales, tougher tests lie await for Gregor Townsend’s side. While the Calcutta Cup and the Doddie Weir Cup are safely tucked away inside Murrayfield, the squad know that if they are to land one of the bigger prizes they need to keep building on their first two performances. The players will take a well earned rest this weekend before returning to take on France in Paris on February 26. Last season’s grand slam champions lost to Ireland in Dublin on Saturday while Scotland were beating Wales by a record margin at Murrayfield but Grant Gilchrist thinks the Scots will need to up their game for the Stade de France. “Playing in Paris is always special, always a battle, and one that we’ll be relishing,” said the lock forward. “We’ll have to be better than we were on Saturday. We knew on Saturday that we had to be better than we were the previous week, and I think for us now we’ve set a standard and we’ve just got to keep getting better week in, week out.”

Gilchrist played in the 2021 match when Duhan’s van der Merwe’s late, late try secured a dramatic 27-23 win in Paris and thinks it will help to have had that experience but he would not be drawn on how far this Scotland team could go. “I don’t want to get carried away,” he said. “We’ve not been in this position before, but we’ve been in similar positions where we’ve had big results. I’d say judge us at the end of the tournament. That’s how we’ve got to look at it. The days of having big days against England, a big day on Saturday against Wales . . . We should be judged at the end of the Six Nations. This team’s mindset now is that we’re not going to be getting carried away after two wins, it’s about where we end up at the end of the championship, and judge us then.”

Since the championship was expanded to six teams in 2000, Scotland have never won more than three games in a season and never finished higher than third. While confidence is high that they can improve on those modest achievements, the reality is that they still have to play the two best teams in the competition, with Ireland at home to follow France away.

Grant Gilchrist, right, and Sione Tuipulotu celebrate the win over Wales at Murrayfield. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Gilchrist thinks there is plenty room for improvement as he analysed what went right and what went wrong in the 35-7 win over Wales. “Our set plays didn’t really get into multi-phase like we would have wanted in the first half,” said the Edinburgh forward. “But the way we defended, the way we fought when we got the yellow card and they started coming back into it - we showed a lot more belief and composure than we’ve had previously, especially against Wales. Probably the breakdown was the biggest thing in the first half [that needed improved] - they were getting those jackal turnovers. Going forward we can’t give those turnovers, otherwise we won’t get into our shape.”