Scotland v Wales: Warren Gatland has held Six Nations whip hand for too long - time for Scotland to end wretched run

When asked about Warren Gatland’s record as Wales coach against Scotland, Jamie Ritchie wasn’t keen to look back, which is probably just as well.

Gatland, back at the helm after four years away, had the measure of the Scots during his first spell in charge. Between 2008 and 2019 he guided Wales to 11 wins in 11 matches against Scotland, 10 of them in the Six Nations and four at Murrayfield. “Was that not in his previous tenure?” asked Ritchie, not unreasonably. “It’s a new tenure, so for us it’s just about what we do now. There's no point in looking back, so we’re looking forward to Saturday.”

Gatland turns 60 this year and while that might entitle him to a free bus pass in Cardiff, he’s not quite ready yet for his pipe and slippers. Nevertheless, it’s hard to escape the feeling that Gatland 2.0 and the current Wales squad pale in comparison to his initial spell as boss when he oversaw four Six Nations triumphs, three Grand Slams and two second-place finishes. He comes north on the back of a sobering 34-10 home defeat by Ireland last weekend, a result that prompted him to take an axe to his pack. Only three of the starting forwards retain their place for today’s game in Edinburgh and among the casualties are a trio of British and Irish Lions, Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau. Faletau will be a replacement at Murrayfield, but Jones and Tipuric are not in the matchday 23.

Gatland’s hiatus from the Wales job didn’t yield the results he would have wished. His return to the Lions ended with a Test series defeat in South Africa and his first season with the Chiefs back in his native New Zealand saw them lose all eight games in the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition. So has Gatland lost some of his lustre? “I don’t know is the honest answer,” said Ritchie. “It would be naive of me to say I think that. He’s obviously a great coach and has been a great coach for a number of years and has had some great success. To say anyone has lost it would be silly. He’s obviously got a huge amount of experience, especially at this level. We need to be well prepared for any team that he coaches.”

Jamie Ritchie, right, and Stuart Hogg during a Scotland training session at BT Murrayfield. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

In truth, Scotland’s preparations began almost as soon as last weekend’s match against England ended. Ritchie gathered the players into a huddle on the Twickenham turf and while he told them to enjoy the moment, he stressed the importance of keeping a lid on the celebrations and not allowing the victory to be undermined by a defeat against Wales seven days later, exactly what happened last season and the year before that. “We knew we needed to make the right decisions around how we recover and things like that, and we needed to get everything out of training, making sure we did all our due diligence on Wales and making sure that, come Saturday, we’re ready to start well,” said the captain.

Scotland’s 29-23 away win over England coupled with Wales’ 34-10 home defeat by Ireland have left bookmakers in no doubt as to who the favourites are at Murrayfield. Scotland are generally available around 1/3 to win despite a wretched record against the Welsh who they have managed to beat only twice in their last 15 Six Nations meetings. Gregor Townsend, who worked with Gatland on the Lions tour, said that the hallmarks of any side coached by the Kiwi are their defensive toughness, their readiness for a physical battle and how hard they compete in the contact area.

The Scotland coach was surprisingly critical of aspects of the performance against England, most notably during the first half, and it’s hard to know if this was a ploy to get more from his team this weekend or a genuine belief that the first-ever Six Nations bonus-point win by a Scotland team at Twickenham fell short of expectations. What is clear is that there is a burning desire within the Scottish camp to shed the tag of not being able to win their opening two games in the championship, a woeful situation that has lasted 27 years. For Ritchie, the key to finding the consistency to record back-to-back victories is maintaining good habits. “It’s just a case of making sure we stick to our fundamentals,” said the skipper. “Every week is a new week and you treat it as such, making sure you get all your preparation right, everyone gets their individual bits right and just making sure that’s how you prepare all the time. If you’re doing something that works well then looking to change it is a bad idea, so for us it’s making sure we use every opportunity we can to get better, so in and around training, how we recover and things like that.”

Despite Townsend’s public misgivings, Ritchie said they had also focused on what went right against England. “We’ve spoken a lot about things we’ve done well, and the things that we did well we can do better,” said Ritchie. “It’s not just a case of ‘it wasn’t a good performance and we need to do much better’. Yes, it was a good performance and we can be much better. There has always been that positive spin on it and we’re excited to get going again on Saturday.”

Kyle Steyn, Ben White, Zander Fagerson and Duhan van der Merwe train at Murrayfield ahead of the Wales game. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

The match against Wales will mark the 100th international appearance of Stuart Hogg, a stunning achievement by the full-back who has played 97 times for Scotland and twice for the Lions Test side. It is likely to be a prelude to his century of Scotland caps which, all being well, should come against Ireland at home next month in round four of the championship. The fervent hope will be that Scotland are still in the mix for the title by then.

Scotland v Wales (Guinness Six Nations, Saturday, BT Murrayfield, 4.45pm. TV: live on BBC 1)

Scotland: 15. Stuart Hogg; 14. Kyle Steyn, 13. Huw Jones, 12. Sione Tuipulotu, 11. Duhan van der Merwe; 10. Finn Russell, 9. Ben White; 1. Pierre Schoeman, 2. George Turner, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Richie Gray, 5. Grant Gilchrist, 6. Jamie Ritchie (capt), 7. Luke Crosbie, 8. Matt Fagerson.

Replacements: 16. Fraser Brown, 17. Jamie Bhatti, 18. WP Nel, 20. Jack Dempsey, 21. George Horne, 22. Blair Kinghorn, 23. Chris Harris.

Warren Gatland at Inverleith, home of Stewart's Melville, where Wales trained ahead of the Scotland match. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

Wales: 15. Liam Williams; 14. Josh Adams, 13. George North, 12. Joe Hawkins, 11. Rio Dyer; 10. Dan Biggar, 9. Tomos Williams; 1. Wyn Jones, 2. Ken Owens (capt), 3. Dillon Lewis, 4. Dafydd Jenkins, 5. Adam Beard, 6. Christ Tshiunza, 7. Tommy Reffell, 8. Jac Morgan.

Replacements: Reserves: Scott Baldwin, Rhys Carre, Leon Brown, Rhys Davies, Taulupe Faletau, Rhys Webb, Rhys Patchell, Alex Cuthbert.

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU).