Scotland Six Nations notes from Spain briefing: Fixing scrum, greasy ball potential and vitamin D

There will be no room for complacency when Scotland rock up in Cardiff on Saturday but it’s safe to assume the visitors will expect to have more of the ball than they did against Italy and England.

The inclusion of Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe suggests Gregor Townsend expects to be on the front foot at the Principality Stadium as the Scots seek a fourth successive win over Wales in the Six Nations.

The head coach outlined the thinking behind his team selection via a video link from the Scotland squad’s training base in Oliva Nova on Spain’s Mediterranean coast.

Return of Kinghorn and van der Merwe

Neither has featured in this season’s Six Nations but the pair are out of cold storage for the Cardiff clash. Van der Merwe, who replaces the injured Jamie Dobie, scored two tries there in 2024 and almost made it a hat-trick in the final minute. His form has dipped a little since and injuries have curbed his potency. But on his day he remains one of the most threatening Test wingers in world rugby. “We want to see Duhan’s strength which is very much on the ball, carrying,” said Townsend.

Kinghorn, who was selected at full-back ahead of the benched Tom Jordan, is also a formidable attacker and impressed Townsend while playing for Toulouse in their win over Stade Francais on Sunday. “Blair played really well in that game and he's recovered quickly,” added the coach. “So there'll be a freshness around both of them coming back in and a huge determination to play well.”

Addressing the scrum woes

The scrum has been a problem in both of Scotland’s opening Six Nations games. Dave Cherry’s inclusion is partly to address that. The Vannes hooker is preferred to George Turner who drops to the bench, one of three changes Townsend has made to the pack.

“I thought Dave was excellent at scrum and maul and with his lineout [when he came on against England],” said Townsend.

The coach felt Scotland’s scrum improved in the second half of both games but he wants it right from the start in Cardiff. “So it's up to the starters to make sure they give good pictures really early on and don't let the opposition get any penalties or any dominance.”

He added: “I think the referees now at the highest level referee every scrum and sometimes the decisions are debatable around whether it's a penalty or not or what the opposition props are doing. Sometimes they're clear.

“So we've got to do all we can to take that out of the referees' mind and make sure that we are dominant, we're providing good ball to our own team.”

Landmark for Max Williamson

The 23-year-old lock has been given the nod to start in the second row alongside his Glasgow Warriors team-mate Scott Cummings, reward for impressing off the bench. It will be Williamson’s first start in the Six Nations. Grant Gilchrist is on the bench

“We feel Max has earned that opportunity,” said Townsend. “He knows his role. It's going to be a lot about the tough work, the set-piece, getting through contacts. But if he can get his hands on the ball, he can add to our power and our ball-carrying.”

Williamson takes over from Gregor Brown who moves into the back row to replace the injured Jamie Ritchie. There is also an enforced change at No 8, with Matt Fagerson in for Jack Dempsey who tore his bicep against England.

Pros and cons the shut roof

Former Scotland lock Jim Hamilton said closing the roof at the Principality Stadium would be playing into the visitors’ hands but Townsend wasn’t doing cartwheels at the news.

While the coach won’t have to worry about the weather, he thinks condensation could make the ball greasy. Having the lid shut also helps cranks up the noise.

“With the roof closed, the ball can get a bit greasy at times, so it's not perfect conditions, but it's certainly better than Rome a couple of weeks ago,” said Townsend with commendable understatement.

He expects the atmosphere to be “hostile”. “I think it's a noisy stadium. The roof's going to be closed, so it's about how we can play to make sure our supporters are loud enough that we can hear them rather than the Welsh supporters.”

Replicating the England intensity

Theme of the fortnight has been Scotland’s ability to raise their game against England and then allow the intensity to drop in other games. Townsend gets irked when people use his excellent record against the English as a negative and that’s understandable. And he batted away the notion that the Calcutta Cup win came down to emotion.

“Last week was not emotion. Last week was accuracy put on top of getting the details right. Whether that's our exits, our lineout, our running lines of our plays with real energy and ambition and bravery.”

He admitted they had to back it up against Wales. “We've got to bring aggression and energy, but there's got to be control,” he said, adding that it was the players who drive the intensity.

Vitamin D is good for the soul

After the rain of Rome and the scrutiny that comes with the Calcutta Cup, Townsend was delighted that his squad could escape to Spain this week. The warm-weather training camp near Valencia has been just the tonic, according to the coach who has had to deal with brickbats and bouquets after Scotland’s contrasting results in the first two rounds of the Six Nations. He said he tried to not let either response affect him.

“They're both really not things I focus any of my time on. I've enjoyed being in Spain this week with the players. Obviously it's been great to come here after a win and our players have had a good training week, they've been able to recover. Vitamin D is good for the soul.”

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