The last time Scotland won two in a row to start a Five or Six Nations Championship was 1996 and they picked exactly the same team.
This time it’s just one change from the Twickenham team to play Wales on Saturday. Zander Fagerson returns for the veteran WP Nel, who drops to the bench.
The “Mavs” – short for Mavericks and the collective name for players in the squad not in the matchday 23 – gave the starters a good going over in this week’s main training session, apeing the blitz defence Scotland expect Wales to employ.
It shook any remaining traces of complacency out of the starters, believes head coach Gregor Townsend.
Zander’s back
1⃣ change to the Scotland team to take on Wales.
Good to have you back, Zander.
Read more: https://t.co/xMraMKtUwy pic.twitter.com/MsLHtfzDMF
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 9, 2023
Fagerson returns despite having not played since tweaking his hamstring at Zebre in the first weekend of December. He’s now trained full out for two whole weeks.
“Our experience of Zander in the past is he has either been injured or missed a couple of games, but still been ready to come back in at a high level,” said Townsend.
“That’s similar to Fraser Brown who can be out for a few months and just picks up going back to playing at Test level.
“(Zander) has been our starting tighthead for a number of years and brings much to us as a player.
“His contact work is the best we have in our squad. His ball carrying, defence, and most important part scrummaging is at such a high level. We feel if he is physically ready, which he is, he should start this week.”
The influence of ‘The Mavs’
The rest of the re-selection was not a rubber-stamping exercise. They always say that, but Townsend was adamant.
“What we say to (The Mavs) and what we genuinely believe is how you train is going to influence selection, and it definitely did,” he said.
“It made us debate a few positions a bit longer than normal after a victory, because Hamish (Watson), Ali (Price) and Chris (Harris) reacted in the way we wanted and we expect from them.
“They put (the starters) under pressure and we had to adapt under that pressure during that session. They didn’t start that great but they improved.
“Hamish came close. Jack (Dempsey) came close. Luke Crosbie made 20 tackles in less than an hour at the weekend. You get a feeling that playing that Test match will give him a lot of confidence, and to play a home Test now will bring the best out of him.
“It’s competitive around Jamie (Ritchie) as well. Jamie is our captain but he knows he has to play well to be in the back row.”
Much more to come
🏴 It will come as no surprise to hear that @Scotlandteam's @duhanvdmerwe is this week’s Player of the Round 🙌#GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/NFQ6yfwkBU
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 9, 2023
The coach and the team know they can play far better than Twickenham.
“That performance probably gets looked at in a different light because we score four tries, a couple of the tries are ‘worldies’, and we win at Twickenham,” he said.
“Obviously, it’s a brilliant achievement but we have our own standards and some of that first half wasn’t the way we wanted.
“The players knew (that) at half-time. There were brilliant things you look at and say ‘how can we get more of these opportunities in a game?’
“But for a lot of the first half we didn’t show enough energy and accuracy. You don’t often get away with that in the Six Nations. So there’s a lot more to come, absolutely.”
Wales’ much changed team
🏴 𝐂𝐘𝐌𝐑𝐔 𝐗𝐕 🏴
The Welsh 23 headed to Scotland 🏴
💪 Amdani Cymru!#WelshRugby | #GuinnessSixNations
— Welsh Rugby Union 🏴 (@WelshRugbyUnion) February 9, 2023
Warren Gatland took a scythe through his Wales team, axeing stalwarts Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau. But Townsend still thinks it’s a strong side.
“They’ve picked players who are playing well for Exeter and for Leicester,” he said. “There’s still experience there with Wyn Jones at loose head. He’s been a key player for them in the last few years.
“Wales will offer huge physicality. They will keep going at us. They made six line breaks against Ireland so it’s a team that can attack.
“We just have to make sure we front up for that challenge and improve on last week.”
Gatland’s record against Scotland
Gatland has never lost coaching Wales against Scotland, and of course knows both Townsend and the Scots’ defence coach Steve Tandy from working with them with the Lions in 2021.
“Coaches evolve,” said Townsend. “Since Gats last coached Wales he has coached the Lions with a different coaching group beside him, then two years of Super Rugby.
“He thrives around the Test environment. He has been the Lions coach, a successful Wales coach, that is what he enjoys.
“His players know he has had success in the past so i am sure they believe they have the right players, the right coaching staff and the right game to win this weekend.”
Does Gatland really respect Scotland? “We had eight players on the Lions tour and lot of them played Test match rugby. I didn’t see (disrespect) at all in my experience of him.”
Taking the big chance
The expectation now for Scotland? They should embrace it.
“I would hope there’s confidence (among Scotland fans). We’ve had two good wins in a row and the game before that was one of our best performances against New Zealand.
“It’s easier playing at home than away. The expectations are always there. They’ve gone up a huge amount in the last few years with regards to our team and that’s a good thing.
“Supporters when they come to games here or elsewhere believe this team can win. That helps us.”
Scotland team
Stuart Hogg (Exeter); Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors), Sione Tupilotu (Glasgow Warriors), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh); Finn Russell (Racing 92), Ben White (London Irish); Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh), George Turner (Glasgow Warriors), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors); Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh); Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh), Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh), Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors).
Replacements: Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors), WP Nel (Edinburgh), Sam Skinner (Edinburgh), Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors), George Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh), Chris Harris (Gloucester).