Wales will be fielding a younger pack after this autumn's Rugby World Cup, but to ask them to gel now would be too early.
That's according to former Wales and Lions captain Sam Warburton, who is not expecting wholesale changes to Warren Gatland's Wales team for the trip to Scotland.
Wales were overpowered and beaten convincingly, particularly in the first half, against Ireland, who are the top-ranked men's side in the world. Wales next travel to Murrayfield to face an in-form Scottish side who have just recorded their third consecutive Calcutta Cup win over England, this time at Twickenham.
While Gatland has form for giving players a chance to redeem themselves, Warburton is unsure just how much of that sentiment we will see when it comes to his team selection this week.
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"He's going to be pondering really hard now," he told the BBC Rugby Union Daily podcast. "They normally give them second chances. I'm not sure they will this time around. He knows what the boys can do, and if they didn't deliver [against Ireland] are they going to do it up in Scotland? I don't know.
"He said a couple of weeks ago the previous regime hadn't brought through the young players that he was hoping, he was hoping probably to inherit a team that's going to be younger.
"Wales' pack by now, I think, should look along the lines of, in the last three years, we should be fielding Rhys Carre at loosehead, ridiculously powerful, Dewi Lake at hooker, ridiculously powerful, Leon Brown at tighthead, insanely powerful, Will Rowlands - he's injured. You're looking then at Adam Beard or Dafydd Jenkins, Christ Tshiunza at No. 6, Jac Morgan at No. 7, Faletau or Wainwright [at No. 8].
"If it's not now, that'll certainly be the pack after the World Cup. But if he named that pack now to go to Scotland, it's way too soon because they haven't been blooded."
That would mean no place in the starting line-up for the likes of Ken Owens, Justin Tipuric, Alun Wyn Jones and Tomas Francis.
Wales' current depth predicament reminds Warburton of the 2010 Six Nations, highlighting the Scotland game where Shane Williams' try was the climax of an extraordinary Test match in Cardiff. Wales had scored 17 points in the last six minutes to turn defeat into unlikely victory.
"Wales were at this changing of the guard situation, and that Scotland game where Shane Williams bailed us out at the end, Wales got completely taken to the cleaners and should never have won that game," Warburton said. "I remember from that point, that's when there was a clean sweep, all these young fellas came in, all of us came in. The autumn campaign, we struggled. The following Six Nations, we came fourth. This is what I think Welsh fans have to get their head around, it takes time."
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It was at this point the likes of Warburton, Dan Lydiate, Taulupe Faletau, Jamie Roberts, Jonathan Davies, Leigh Halfpenny and George North really staked their claim in the Test arena.
"Then the following campaign was World Cup warm-ups: beat England, beat Argentina, got to a semi-final and then won a Grand Slam [in 2012]. My point being, I think Welsh fans have to accept now there's not enough time to be chucking all these youngsters and they'll be good for the World Cup. Maybe, but it's too high risk.
"That's why I don't think too many changes will be made, but ideally if it [World Cup] was another year I think these clean sweep changes would be made now. But they haven't got that luxury."
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