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Gregor Townsend is under no illusions about the uphill battle ahead of his team as they try to stop the Welsh juggernaut from running them over en route to a Six Nations Grand Slam.
That won’t stop Townsend trying to rouse his men to an unexpected win at Murrayfield, a win that would help the auld enemy, sure, but a win that is much-needed to restore some pride into a team who have been too much of a walkover for Warren Gatland ’s Wales in recent years.
Scotland only boast three home wins against the Welsh in Six Nations history. One of those came in 2017, their last game against those red invaders at Murrayfield but also a fixture where Rob Howley was interim boss of the Welsh. Gatland’s record against the Scots remains unblemished.
They are big favourites for it to stay that way, with the 34-7 win over the Scots last year representing their second-biggest victory ever over the wildlings in the north and Gatland’s men currently on a run of 12 consecutive Test wins. ‘Be afraid’ is the message, but Townsend isn’t listening. He wants Scotland to rise like they did against the English a year ago and has made some changes in search of a spark, benching captain Greg Laidlaw and handing Ali Price and Finn Russell starts at 9 and 10.
"Wales have a very good record against us and are in excellent form,” he said.
Six Nations team of the weekend - Round threeShow all 15 1 /15Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Ben Moon (England) Placed in the unenviable position of replacing the best loosehead on the world and did himself proud. Lasted 77 minutes of England’s defeat in Wales which is no small feat in such an attritional encounter, and held his own in the scrum and defence with an impressive 19 tackles.
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Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Leonardo Ghiraldini (Italy) Another player who displayed his best in defeat. Ghiraldini was reliable at the lineout and stood out with ball in hand as he carried powerfully in attack. Also contributed with a full 80-minute outing.
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Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Demba Bamba (France) One of France’s most prominent carriers as they finally got their campaign up and running with an impressive victory over Scotland. Looks a real find at 20 years old and can more than hold his own in the front-row.
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Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Cory Hill (Wales) Scored the try that broke England’s spirit and put Wales on the path to victory in Cardiff. Took on responsibility at the lineout when Ken Owens started to wobble, and looked like a man who had emptied the tank when he left the field to huge applause.
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Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Alun Wyn Jones (Wales) What more can you say about the Welsh captain? Leads by example, but then he’s never short of the right words when they’re needed. A colossus against his oldest enemy as he mentally broke Kyle Sinckler and led the charge in refusing to bow to the English defence. At 33 years old, he seems to be getting better by the day.
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Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Josh Navidi (Wales) Is transpiring to be quite the player at international level as this week he displayed both sides of his game. Defensively brilliant as he ensured everything that he hit stayed hit, but also offered more offensively with smart support play to those around him. One good turnover with Liam Williams brought three points for Wales as they trapped Jonny May in possession.
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Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Tom Curry (England) Arguably the standout performer of the round. At 20 years of age, the promise in Curry is enough to make every England fan excited, even if it came in a losing effort. England’s half-time lead in Cardiff – and Wales’ inability to get into the match – came through Curry as he scored an opportunistic try and defended like a man possessed. Made an astonishing 17 tackles by half-time and added eight more after the break.
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Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Louis Picamoles (France) Mr Reliable once again turned up for the resurgent French as they took the fight to Scotland and came away with the victory. Carried emphatically from the base and caused problems for the French back-row, while he was also a rock in defence.
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Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Tito Tebaldi (Italy) Probably the surprise package of the round. Made his first Six Nations appearance since 2014 and proved to be the spark that the Italians needed to get going. Quick to the breakdown that helped produce Edoardo Padovani’s opening try and stripped Conor Murray of the ball to breakaway that set-up the second. He was also a useful addition at the breakdown.
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Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Romain Ntamack (France) Lived up to the high billing he’s received on his first start in the No 10 shirt after two outings at centre, and looked to do enough to hold on to his place for the trip to Ireland. Part of a Toulouse spine running through the back line that clicked into gear and he calmly finished a brilliant 70m move to get France off the mark.
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Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Josh Adams (Wales) A beautiful finish sparked wild celebrations inside the Prinicipality Stadium as he soared above Elliot Daly and juggled the ball as he crashed to the turf before placing it over the line. Superb in defence, particularly aerially, and made a crucial tackle on Jonny May when he looked to be away.
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Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Gael Fickou (France) Probably one of his best outings for Les Bleus that came at the perfect time with Wesley Fofana still absent through injury. Caused Scotland to retreat on numerous occasions with clean line breaks and also contributed well in defence.
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Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Chris Farrell (Ireland) In the absence of Robbie Henshaw, Garry Ringrose and – after just 11 minutes – Bundee Aki due to injury, Farrell helped ensure that Ireland didn’t slip-up in Rome. It was his clean line break that set-up Quinn Roux to score the opener, while he also linked nicely with Earls outside him for his Munster teammate to scythe through the Italian defence.
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Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Keith Earls (Ireland) Ireland boss Joe Schmidt couldn’t have asked much more from him as he showed good awareness to link with Conor Murray to score the third try to get Ireland back in front, feigning to go outside before cutting back inside two defenders to score. Made numerous line breaks and also had to show his versatility by moving from wing to centre.
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Six Nations team of the weekend - Round three Thomas Ramos (France) Perhaps harsh on Wales’ Liam Williams who enjoyed an excellent outing in Cardiff, but there was something quite brilliant about watching Ramos’ display in Paris. Beat seven defenders, three of which came in a breath-taking counter attack that led to Ntamack’s try. All of this came on his first Six Nations start, and it felt like the arrival of France’s new long-term full-back.
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"It's a similar challenge to the one we faced last year against England, who had also been on a very good run of results in their preceding games.
"We rose to the challenge that day and found a way to win and I firmly believe we can reach that level of performance once again on Saturday."
For Gatland, this win is all about momentum heading into a final-week showdown with Ireland. Scotland could be a banana skin but his side have shown their ability to lock opponents down, strangling England’s kicking game and generally showing the hallmarks of a well-coached team defensively.
On that run of 12 wins in a row, Wales have conceded just 13.9 points per game. They have won all eight Tests that Gareth Anscombe has started at fly-half too, which might be why Gatland said his selection headache this week was, well, not so much of a pain.
Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratingsShow all 31 1 /31Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Scotland: Stuart Hogg – 5 One bright break early on that eventually led to Scotland’s first chance and subsequent three points, but forced off quickly after with a shoulder injury. Disappointing to lose such a talent so early in the game.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Tommy Seymour – 5 A bright spark on the wing but perhaps too eager to make stuff happen. Too many times he overran his support line that meant he had to check his run with the try line at his mercy, while he also kicked away possession too often without success.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Huw Jones – 6 Worked well as a link man between Russell and the back three, but beyond an early chip downfield that pinned Ireland back, he was unusually quiet.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Sam Johnson – 7 Ran a smart line to give Russell the space he needed to reach the 5m line, before cutting back to support his fly-half and collect to score a try as a result. Ireland kept him rather quiet with ball in hand and replaced by Pete Horne on the 65th minute.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Sean Maitland – 6 Showed his class at times as he worked around to his opposite wing and linked up well with Seymour. A useful link with quick hands but Ireland found a way to keep him quiet.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Finn Russell – 7 Picked off Joey Carbery to intercept and go 60 metres before keeping his wits about him to pop the ball up to Johnston to score. Provide the spark in the back line, but when Scotland got close to the red zone he seemed to falter in the ideas department.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Greig Laidlaw – 6 100 per cent record from the tee and delivered quick and clean ball for Russel to work with. Charged down Murray in the second half before being replaced by Ali Price soon after.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Allan Dell – 6 Rattled Sexton with a borderline tackle that eventually forced him off the field in the first half. Stood up well against Furlong. Replaced by Jamie Bhatti midway through the second half.
Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Stuart McInally – 7 Missed his most important lineout on the Irish 5m line, but made up for it with a brutal tackle on Earls in driving the wing backwards and setting up the turnover under pressure. Secured a turnover soon after and his lineout was otherwise impressive with a number of throws to the tail.
Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Simon Berghan – 5 Struggled to stand up against the pressure that Healy was able to exert on him. Knocked the ball on in the first half and didn’t take his chance in WP Nel’s absence.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Grant Gilchrist – 6 Fairly quiet with ball in hand but did a solid job at the lineout.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Jonny Gray – 6 Penalised one more than one occasion by Poite, the first for tackling beyond the ruck and then a second ruck indiscretion. Lost the ball in contact, but brought a good physicality to Scotland’s running game.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Ryan Wilson – 6 Got an early shot in on Sexton to let him know he was being watched but knocked on when Scotland attempted to set up something smart in the enemy red zone. Didn’t reappear for the second half.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Jamie Ritchie – 7 Forced off the field in the first half with blood pouring from his head, but returned for the start of the second half and made an important turnover after McInally’s hit on Earls. Followed it up with a second good turnover and was probably Scotland’s standout player.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Josh Strauss – 5 Disappointed with his lack of big carries and guilty of giving Ireland three points when he was punished for not rolling away. Scotland really are missing John Barclay.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Ireland: Rob Kearney - 6 Questionable tackle on Seymour raised the ugly question once again of no-arm tackles. Grew into the game in the second half with two nice breaks and bar one knock-on, he was a safe pair of hands in the air.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Keith Earls - 6 Displayed his defiance with a committed run back and tackle on Russell, albeit to no avail. Karma paid off for that though as he was on the receiving end of Carbery’s lovely pass to bag his first try of the tournament.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Chris Farrell – 5 Made his impact felt early on with a through nice runs, but beyond that he was very quiet.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Bundee Aki – 6 A neat break on the shoulder of Carbery was the highlight of his display. Ill-disciplined at times as Romain Poite pinged him twice at the breakdown.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Jacob Stockdale - 8 After last weekend’s anonymous showing, he was back at the centre of everything. It was his kick that caused so many problems for Seymour and Maitland that produced Murray’s try, before his brute pace and smart line sent him over for the second.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Johnny Sexton - 6 Forced off the field soon after releasing Stockdale on halfway with a smart inside pop pass. On the end of some borderline Scottish tackles from Dell and Gray that ended his day prematurely.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Conor Murray – 6 Still not at the level that we’re used to seeing him at. Had one kick charged down and a number of loose passes but, on the whole, it was better than last weekend.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Cian Healy – 6 Won a penalty in the first half in the scrum and proved an anchor for Ireland to build on in the set-piece. A handling error in the second half left him punching the turf and he was replaced just short of the hour by Dave Kilcoyne.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Rory Best – 6 An improved outing from the Irish skipper as he hit every lineout and carried well. Looked much more comfortable without a pack pressuring the Irish eight.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Tadhg Furlong – 7 Good work in the scrum was backed up with a more characteristic display with ball in hand and powerful runs.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings James Ryan - 7 Important lineout steal on the Irish 5m that Best was able to touch down and, from the ensuing scrum, allow Ireland to clear their lines. Carried well and got through plenty of defensive work.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Quinn Roux – 6 Performed well in Devin Toner’s absence but could have done more with ball in hand.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Peter O'Mahony - 7 Big tackle on Wilson forced a knock-on when Scotland attempted to outsmart Ireland with a tap-and-go on the five metre line. Led the Irish ball-carrying effort that set the tone for his teammates.
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Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Sean O'Brien – 6 Needs time to get back to his nuisance best in the breakdown, but that said he was impressive with ball in hand.
Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Jack Conan – 7 Made a strong start, particularly with his carrying from the base of the scrum. Lead the Irish tackling charts too and gave a good account of himself in CJ Stander’s absence.
Scotland vs Ireland Six Nations player ratings Replacement: Joey Carbery - 7 Made a nervous start as he was intercepted by Russell, but showed his class once he was up to speed with the game. Burst through a double-tackle from Dell and Harley before spotting Earls out wide to send the wing over.
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"It was a fairly straightforward selection,” he said, making only one injury-enforced change to his line-up b bringing in Adam Beard to replace lock Cory Hill.
“After that performance against England they deserved the opportunity to back it up.
"There is no doubt that their record at Murrayfield has been very impressive, and they are hard to beat there for any team.
"They will be disappointed and hurting from that performance against France in Paris. We are well aware of their threat.
"The maturity in the team, not panicking and having that belief that they can come through and win a game; that's been massive for this team.
I don't see any fear in their eyes or any trepidation."
Teams Scotland: 15. Kinghorn; 14. Seymour, 13. Grigg, 12. P Horne, 11. Graham; 10. Russell, 9. Price; 1. Dell, 2. McInally (capt), 3. Nel, 4. Gilchrist, 5. J Gray, 6. Bradbury, 7. Ritchie, 8. Strauss.
Replacements: 16. Brown, 17. Reid, 18. Berghan, 19. Toolis, 20. Watson, 21. Laidlaw, 22. Hastings, 23. McGuigan.
Wales: 15. L Williams; 14. North, 13. J Davies, 12. Parkes, 11. Adams; 10. Anscombe, 9. G Davies; 1. R Evans, 2. Owens, 3. Francis, 4. Beard, 5. AW Jones (c), 6. Navidi, 7. Tipuric, 8. Moriarty.
Replacements: 16. Dee, 17. Smith, 18. Lewis, 19. Ball, 20. Wainwright, 21. A Davies, 22. Biggar, 23. Watkin.
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