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Scotland
Scotland picked up an opening weekend victory against England and Gregor Townsend’s side will be hoping to begin the tournament with back-to-back successes. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against them and they haven’t managed to secure consecutive Six Nations wins in their opening two fixtures since 1996.
The Scots will be confident coming into this game and they will fancy their chances of beating a Wales outfit, who suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Ireland last weekend.
Games between these two sides have been typically tense and tight. Last season, Wales edged out Scotland 20-17 which followed the previous season’s nail-biting 24-25 contest behind closed doors.
Match has ended
Consistency has been key to Scotland and with Gregor Townsend having largely picked from the same pool of players, the sense of understanding between the squad members has enabled them to progress. They have matured in recent seasons and with the general feeling amongst Scottish rugby fans is that this group has under-delivered in recent years, there is a quiet optimism heading into week 2.
Wales
Warren Gatland’s return failed to ignite a response from Wales as they were overpowered by an aggressive and impressive Irish side. It was their heaviest home defeat in this tournament since 2001 and the Kiwi will be hoping for a reaction at Murrayfield this weekend. Although Gatland suggested that he wasn’t overly disappointed by their performance, he will demand that his side are more physically robust this time around.
Gatland has historically enjoyed plenty of success against this opposition and he was unbeaten against Scotland during his previous spell in charge of Wales.
The returning boss has made a number of changes to his team ahead of this crucial clash with Justin Tipuric, Alun Wyn Jones and Taulupe Faletau all being left out of the squad this weekend. With a new-look back-row, fans will be hoping that their side can provide a much-stiffer resistance this time around. George North has also been passed fit despite having picked up an injury against Ireland last weekend.
Head to Head
Wales have dominated recent meetings between these sides, although very few of these clashes have been one-sided affairs. These two teams have been separated by no more than four points in their three most recent meetings.
Scotland’s last victory at Murrayfield against Wales came in 2017. Finn Russell was instrumental in their 29-13 victory that day and the 30-year old, who was superb in the Calcutta Cup last weekend, will be hoping to produce a similar performance this time around.
Key Betting Stats
- Over the last 70 years, Scotland have begun this tournament with back-to-back victories on just six occasions. The last time they managed to achieve this feat with 1996.
- Wales recorded the most tackles per opposition carry (1.63) last weekend
- Wales have been victorious in just three of their last 12 away games across all competitions.
- Wales have won just two of their last ten matches overall.
- Only France (11 times) offloaded the ball more than Wales (10 times) in week 1 of the 2023 Six Nations.
- Referee Andrew Brace took charge of this fixture in 2020. Scotland narrowly edged out Wales in Cardiff on that occasion.
Match Prediction
There is unlikely to be much between these two sides. Scotland will be looking to build upon last week’s victory at Twickenham and the home crowd should be in good voice. However, Wales will be desperate to respond to last weekend’s setback and Warren Gatland’s changes may spark some improvement. Wales won’t find Scotland as physically daunting as Ireland, but they still may just fall short.
Winning Combo
Scotland to Win, Under 47.5 Points and Duhan van der Merwe Anytime Tryscorer
Odds – 15/4 with Bet365’s Bet Builder
Best Bookmaker
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