AFTER such a historic win as Saturday’s, it can seem churlish to suggest that there should be changes to the Scotland team for the game against Wales this weekend.
The 29-23 victory over England was a historic triumph, in which every member of the squad played his part, and the emotional momentum of the occasion encourages us to say “same again” from 1 to 23.
But that sort of effusive reaction, no matter how understandable, is precisely what the coaching team want to avoid. In the aftermath of Twickenham, head coach Gregor Townsend, captain Jamie Ritchie, and scrum-half Ben White, among others, all warned against getting carried away.
Scotland’s key task this week in the build-up to the Six Nations match at Murrayfield will be to ensure that they are in the right frame of mind to get the better of Wales and thus avoid a repeat of 2021 and 2022, when they beat England first up only to lose to the Welsh in week two.
“We’ve got to make sure that
next week we put in a better performance,” was one of the first statements made by Townsend post-match. And one way of doing that could be by altering the starting line-up.
Zander Fagerson should start. Having resumed full training following injury just too late to
be picked to face England, the Glasgow tighthead will definitely be ready this week.
If Fagerson is not match-fit enough to go the full 80, WP Nel can come off the bench as a more than able deputy.
Hamish Watson was a step ahead of the Warriors prop in his return from injury, having played the full 80 for Edinburgh a week before the Calcutta Cup.
But while the openside is fit to play and would normally be one of the first names on the team sheet,
on this occasion he may start off on the bench.
For one thing, Townsend made
it clear that he selected last week’s team on form – hence the
preference of White to George Horne or Ali Price at No.9, for example.
And, having been
sidelined until recently, Watson
has by definition had no chance to build up to his best form.
For another, the back row of Ritchie, Luke Crosbie and Matt Fagerson, with Jack Dempsey latterly on for Crosbie, showed great durability against England.
They were under pressure in the third quarter, and at times Lewis Ludlam and Alex Dombrandt threatened to seize control of the breakdown for the home team, but it was the Scots who prevailed in the end, with Fagerson supplying the pass to Duhan van der Merwe for the winning score.
Townsend could simply
choose between Watson and
Crosbie for the No.7 jersey, and
to an extent that choice will depend on how he expects the opposition
to play.
But there is also the question
of how to get the best blend in the back row, especially if he only expects to get an hour or so out of Watson.
If Watson comes in and his Edinburgh team-mate Crosbie
drops to the bench, that would
mean Dempsey dropping out of the 23 – a demotion that the Glasgow man would hardly deserve. It is a good dilemma, if an unenviable one, for Townsend to have.
Pierre Schoeman at loosehead and Richie Gray at lock look sure to hold on to their places, but could there be further changes in the pack at hooker and in the other second-row berth?
It is easy to envisage Fraser Brown starting at hooker and George Turner coming off the bench, rather than the other way round. But Jonny Gray starting and Grant Gilchrist being named among the replacements? That does not seem as balanced an approach as the other way round.
Whatever Townsend decides, one thing seems certain: if changes are made, there will be more in the pack than behind the scrum.
None of the backs put in a perfect performance three days ago, but all did well enough to justify their selection.
That includes the biggest call made by the head coach, the choice of Huw Jones, rather than Chris Harris, to partner Sione Tuipulotu
at centre.
