Warren Gatland will be in the hunt for his 12th successive victory over Scotland, as Wales travels north to Murrayfield for its upcoming Six Nations clash Saturday afternoon.

Wales has never lost to the Scots under his tutelage but may be about to face their sternest challenge yet.

Gregor Townsend's side is coming off one of its biggest wins in recent memory, having toppled England 29-23 at Twickenham in the tournament opener.

The thrilling tussle ended in a third straight win for Scotland over its Calcutta Cup rivals, in a performance that earned the squad plenty of praise. 

Scotland was adventurous, yet remained ruthlessly clinical, averaging roughly a four-point return each time they entered the England 22, and they did it all with less possession and considerably less territory.  

All in all, it was an impressive display, but it will become tainted, if they fail to back that result up this weekend. 

Indeed, in 2021 and 2022, Scotland followed up its wins over England with losses to Wales in the second round.

To make matters worse, Scotland has not won its opening two games in the tournament since 1996.

“Hopefully that's the same this time as well,” Gatland cheekily told the BBC. “I definitely think they'll have spoken about that - they haven't won many opening games in the Six Nations. That will be key for them in this tournament. It's all about momentum, and they've created some great momentum from last week.

“They've got great balance in their team at the moment. They're pretty slick in attack and have continuity with players who have been there for a while.”

In his first game back in the hot seat for Wales, Gatland put faith in older heads, who had shown up for him before. That decision did not pay off, as he watched his side slump to a 34-10 defeat to Ireland at the Principality – their first home Six Nations loss to Ireland in a decade.

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To put right the shortcomings of that game, the former Lions coach has dropped Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric from the squad entirely, and moved Taulupe Faletau to the bench for the upcoming Scotland test.

Replacing them are Exeter Chiefs duo Dafydd Jenkins and Christ Tshiunza, both making their first international starts, joined by budding backrowers Tommy Reffell and Jac Morgan.

All four forwards are 23 or under. When asked about this, Gatland explained his reasoning behind the bold moves, arguing this was not a knee-jerk reaction but part of a long-term plan.

“How do we get these youngsters some game time and get them up to speed?" he said. "That is by playing international rugby. There hasn't been any change in our thinking. Last week was about finding out where we are as a squad with the players we picked, and we always spoke about how we give the young players an opportunity.

“There has been no knee-jerk reaction, because this has been part of the plan from day one.

“Dafydd Jenkins comes into the second-row, looking to the future, and Christ is a great athlete.”

Dragons tighthead Leon Brown has been promoted to the bench, while the Wales backline remains unchanged.

Meanwhile, Townsend has placed faith in the men that delivered a historic result at Twickenham last weekend, only to drop WP Nel to the bench to make space for the returning Zander Fagerson.

The introduction of the Glasgow Warriors tighthead to the front row means Simon Berghan loses his place in the match-day squad.

“We believe Zander is more than ready to perform,” Townsend said. “When we saw how well he trained last week, we did think about involving him, but we wanted to back WP and Simon Berghan, who both played really well for us."

In the continued absence of Hamish Watson, Luke Crosbie keeps his place at openside.

Townsend will be hoping the minor reshuffle will give his side valuable cohesion heading into their clash against Wales. Though he is fully aware of the looming spectre of history and how their recent record does not shine kindly on their fortunes.

“Referencing last year has been something both our players and coaches have done, but really, last year is irrelevant - this year, this week, is most important,” he said. “We have to improve from what we did last week because in large parts of that game, we weren't at our best. I saw better performances in Argentina in the summer and in our games in November. That's the internal standards we set.

“We know Wales is a quality side, and they're as motivated as ever to get a win after starting with a defeat.”

So, this tie is a tale of opposites. 

On one side, you have a new-look Wales, dominated by unproven rising stars. Standing opposite them, will be a largely unchanged Scotland team, looking to end the demons of yesteryear.

Written by Stefan Frost