Wales face Scotland this weekend as they look bounce to back from a nightmare start to this year's Six Nations championship. Warren Gatland's side were humbled by a rampant Ireland on the opening day, conceding three tries in the first 20 minutes of the game as they fell to a 34-10 defeat.
For hosts Scotland, however, the first round couldn't have gone much better as they recorded a third consecutive win over England in the Calcutta Cup, with Duhan van der Merwe scoring a stunning solo try that saw him maze through the opposition defence with a run that started from inside his own half, before grabbing another with just minutes remaining to seal a 29-23 victory.
Gatland has never lost to Scotland as Welsh coach, while Gregor Townsend's side have only won two of their last 16 matches against Wales, with their last victory coming in October 2020 when they ran out 14-10 winners at Parc y Scarlets. The last time the two teams met at Murrayfield in 2021, a thrilling game saw Wales edge 14-man Scotland to a 25-24 win, with Louis Rees-Zammit scoring two tries.
Here's everything you need to know about Saturday's match:
What time is Scotland v Wales kick-off in Six Nations?
Scotland v Wales kicks off at 4.45pm on Saturday, February 11, at Murrayfield.
What TV channel is Scotland v Wales on? What about live streaming?
Scotland v Wales is being broadcast live on BBC One and S4C with coverage beginning at 4pm. You will also be able to live stream the game via BBC iPlayer and S4C Clic.
What's the Scotland v Wales team news?
Warren Gatland has overhauled the Welsh pack ahead of his side's trip to Scotland this weekend, making six changes in the forwards, with Justin Tipuric among the big-name stars dropped.
Taulupe Faletau is named on the bench and is replaced by Jac Morgan at No. 8, who starts in the back-row alongside Christ Tshiunza who makes his Six Nations debut at blindside and Tommy Reffell at openside. There is also no place for Alun Wyn Jones in the travelling party, with the former Wales captain replaced at lock by Dafydd Jenkins, who makes his first start for Wales.
In the front row, Wyn Jones, named at loose-head prop, returns to action having missed the autumn through injury, while Dillon Lewis starts at tight-head prop with captain Ken Owens at hooker. Dragons tighthead Leon Brown could make his first appearance for Wales since last year's championship if he is brought off the bench, while Ospreys second row Rhys Davies could also make his debut having been named among the replacements.
The backline remains unchanged, with Rhys Patchell joining Rhys Webb and Alex Cuthbert as the Wales replacement backs.
Meanwhile, Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has made one change to his starting line-up, drafting in Zander Fagerson while fellow tighthead prop WP Nel moves to the bench.
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, 19. Jonny Gray, 20. Jack Dempsey, 21. George Horne, 22. Blair Kinghorn, 23. Chris Harris.
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: 16. Scott Baldwin, 17. Rhys Carre, 18. Leon Brown, 19. Rhys Davies, 20. Taulupe Faletau, 21. Rhys Webb, 22. Rhys Patchell, 23. Alex Cuthbert.
Who is the Scotland v Wales referee?
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy and Chris Busby (IRFU)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)
What have the coaches said?
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend: “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 out with 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.
"We have to improve from what we did last week because in large parts of that game, we weren’t at our best. I saw better performances in Argentina in the summer and in our games in November. 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.”
Wales coach Warren Gatland: “We’ve made some changes but tried to keep some continuity with the same backline. Wyn has been working really hard in the last three weeks in camp and he gets an opportunity. Then Dafydd Jenkins comes into the second row, looking a bit to the future. Christ Tshiunza as well. We’re looking at options at 8 if Toby Faletau picks up an injury who’s going to cover there, so Jac gets that chance.
“We thought we created opportunities last week but we weren’t clinical enough in terms of finishing off some of those chances. We need to start better. We gave away some stupid penalties and unforced penalties when we weren’t really under a lot of pressure so that’s again been an area that we’ve spoken about. We’ve tried to focus on the positives and the things that we can address ourselves.
“Scotland have some experience in that squad, so it’s going to be a great encounter and it’s a good test of the improvements that we can make from the things that we need to tidy up from last week.”
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