Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has kept faith with the majority of his Calcutta Cup heroes but warned them they will need to improve for their second Guinness Six Nations match at home to Wales this weekend.
There will be just one change to the XV that won 29-23 away to England on Saturday, with Glasgow prop Zander Fagerson replacing 36-year-old WP Nel after more than two months out with a hamstring injury.
Despite the intoxicating nature of last weekend’s win, Townsend explained that his team selection for the visit of the Welsh was not straightforward.
“No, it wasn’t,” he said, when asked if it was an easy decision to pick 14 of the 15 who started at Twickenham.
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
“We actually delayed the (internal) team announcement because we had a few selections that we had to sleep on. I believe they’ve earned the right to get a second opportunity to build on that win but the performance wasn’t at our best level.
“We’ve got players on the bench and outwith the 23 who are quality players that have played very well for us in the past or are itching for that opportunity, so it wasn’t an easy decision, but these guys now have the opportunity to build on last week.”
Townsend has sensed a drive within his squad to deliver an improved performance this weekend as Scotland bid to kick off a campaign with back-to-back wins for the first time since the inception of the Six Nations in 2000.
“Good, determined to improve from last week,” he said when asked about the mood in the group.
“There’s been an edge to training, like there was last week. As a coach, I see other things in meetings and how the players talk to each other and it all seems like their focus is on improving this week, which is all you can ask for.
“The good thing was we took our opportunities and we showed resilience into that final quarter and that makes us tough to beat. But we’re not at our potential, and that’s what we’re striving towards.”
Townsend has no worries about throwing Fagerson into such a huge match even though he has not played since the first weekend of December.
“When we saw how well he trained last week, we did think about involving him last week but we wanted to back WP (Nel) and Simon (Berghan) who both played really well for us,” he said. “We believe Zander is more than ready to perform.”
Wales head coach Warren Gatland has made five changes to the side that lost 34-10 at home to Ireland last weekend, but Townsend is anticipating a tough test from the visitors.
“I felt they took the game to Ireland, they had opportunities. They were held up on the line twice, they were penalised close to the line, they had the same amount of line-breaks as Ireland.
“We know Wales are a quality side and they’re as motivated as ever to get a win after starting with a defeat. These players they’ve brought in are players in form, they’ve either played well off the bench at the weekend or played very well for their clubs this year.
“The threats they have through their ball-carrying, their speed, and what they do over the ball is something we have to be very aware of. It (the number of changes) means they’ve got strength in depth.
“They’ve picked a team that is going to come after us. It’s a positive selection from their point of view bringing in younger players who want to drive the team forward.”
