SCOTLAND assistant coach Pieter de Villiers hopes that the squad’s new-found maturity will help them cope with the pressure of backing up victory over England last week with another win against Wales on Saturday.
The scrummaging specialist has been part of Gregor Townsend’s coaching set-up since late 2019 and in the past has seen the team blossom one week but wilt the next in the Six Nations. He believes there is a variety of reasons for that, but also thinks the fact that defeating England is no longer a novelty could help the players focus properly on the forthcoming Murrayfield meeting with the Welsh.
“I think there’s been a mix of factors,” De Villiers said yesterday when asked why Scotland had so often failed to hit the heights two weeks running in the Championship. “There could have been a bit of complacency at times. It could have been under-estimation of your opponent.
“It could have been that the next opponent realises we are a good team - and so they up their game as well. It could be dwelling on that victory for too long and not moving on immediately to look at how we can get better. It’s a mix of all of those things.
“Maybe also maturity. Maybe the team is a bit more mature this week and we will deal with it better. We’ve got Aaron Walsh [the mental skills coach] working with us - he can assist us with the mental preparation side of things.”
Two years ago, Scotland won at Twickenham in round one then lost at home to Wales in round two. In 2022, too, they beat England at home in round one then lost in Cardiff seven days later.
“We’re not dwelling on that win - we’re moving on quickly,” De Villiers continued of Saturday’s 29-23 triumph in London. “I think having a good win at Twickenham might have been such a big moment in the past that we might have been slow to move on to the next task.
“So our attitude is: ‘Let’s not dwell – let’s move on quickly to look at where we can improve’. That’s part of our growth as a team, and we hope to show that growth this week. I think we’re better prepared to take this challenge on, whilst also still respecting our opponent.
“There have obviously been a few of those [defeats following on the back of big wins] in the past, and I think we must tell ourselves that last Saturday was only our first game and it wasn’t perfect – far from it. So we still need to improve and want to improve.”
Wales also need to improve after a 34-10 home loss to Ireland, and De Villiers believes they will do so. Indeed, he thinks that improvement started in the second half of that match at the Principality Stadium.
“That second half was a draw. With a new management and new coaches, they managed a draw against the No 1 team in the world.
“And we know there is a lot of experience there as well, so there’s a lot to take in there to make sure that we are ready to face a difficult side, as they have proven themselves to be in the past.
‘As much as the score maybe flattered Ireland a bit, the second half was a draw. We expect Wales to be good this weekend.”
All 23 players who were on duty against England are fit and available this week, as are Glasgow tighthead prop Zander Fagerson and Edinburgh openside Hamish Watson. Fagerson has not played since injuring a hamstring at the start of December, while Watson has played once for Edinburgh since recovering from concussion. Both are serious contenders for a place in Saturday’s team, with Fagerson looking likely to start instead of WP Nel.
“Apart from the usual bumps and bruises, and some soft tissue here or there, we’ve got the group ready to go,” De Villiers explained. “Zander is available for selection, so is Hamish, and we’ve also got a lot of players in form in those two positions, so the competition will be stiff.
“Zander has trained well. The other props have trained well too and we’re in the fortunate position to have to make difficult choices and that’s a good place to be.”
Warriors lock Scott Cummings has been added to the wider squad as he continues his recovery from injury but is not expected to figure against Wales, while No 8 Andy Christie has been released back to Saracens after sustaining a dead leg in training. “We haven’t taken [Cummings] into consideration for team selection,” the assistant coach added. “But Scott being part of our wider group and an important figure going forward, it was important to get him back into the mix as soon as possible so he can start connecting with the players again.”
