MAKE IT COUNT
Gilchrist on a mission for historic Cardiff win
WHILE dreams of a first Six Nations title are perhaps a little far-fetched, there is still plenty at stake for Scotland when they take on Wales in the only show in town on Saturday.
A rare away victory, the first in Cardiff since 2002, for starters. Ending a run of three straight defeats to the Welsh. And also becoming the first Scottish side to win three Six Nations games in a row.
Indeed, you would have to go back to 1996 and the days of the old Five Nations to find the last time the Scots strung three tournament victories in a row together.
So history awaits Gregor Townsend’s men and second row Grant Gilchrist believes his side can follow up their successes over Italy and France with a win which would top the lot.
‘This game against Wales is like a cup final for us and there are no bigger games than cup finals,’ admitted the Edinburgh lock. ‘We’ve won two in a row, so let’s go down to Wales and win three in a row and make a success of this tournament.
‘It is a straight shoot-out against them. If we lose, they finish above us. If we win, we finish above them, so it is an exciting time to go down there and we have to leave nothing out there on the pitch at the end.
‘This is a chance to win three games in a row, which would help us build so much momentum as a squad. I had no idea no Scotland team had won three games in a row in the same Six Nations until it was mentioned to me this week.
‘That it hasn’t been done before shows how hard it is to do, so it would be a big achievement for us to do it and something for us to be really proud of.
‘If we finish with three wins in a row, that’s a marked improvement from the World Cup for us but we know the size of the challenge and that excites us.
‘Yes, there is only a six-day turnaround from our game against France but when you play for Scotland, nothing is ever an excuse, short turnarounds or whatever, for not playing well.
‘Training will be a bit less this week, so we’re fresh for the game as it’s about our mindset and mentality being right.’
The Welsh go into the Scotland match off the back of three straight Six Nations losses — their worst run in the tournament since 2007. Under new coach Wayne Pivac, they are a team in transition but will be just as hard to beat at home as they ever were, according to Gilchrist.
‘The size of the task still remains the same,’ he continued. ‘You will always have to deal with that atmosphere in Cardiff and they will always come out firing.
‘They’ve changed their style a little bit and we have to deal with that. In years gone by, they’d bully you and out-kick you, strangle you, that was always how they played against us.
‘They’re now moving the ball a lot, and they’re much more ambitious than before, so we have to be ready for that. Defensively, in the past, you knew it was a straight up man-on-man and they just tried to bully you.
‘I don’t expect that from Wales this weekend as they’ve got another dimension under Pivac and they’ll look to play to the width and offload.
‘They’ve got their traditional strengths but I’d be expecting we’ll have to fill the field better and defend wider attacks rather than blunt force up the middle.
‘It is the size of the challenge we have to meet but, as I said, it is also a great opportunity for us as we have had two big wins. We have proved we can do it away from home. We haven’t been good enough down there in the past but here is a chance for us to challenge ourselves. We have wind in our sails and go down there with a bit of momentum.’
For Gilchrist, the Wales game is a chance for him to re-establish himself as a first-choice second row after not featuring in the first two matches against Ireland and England and only coming off the bench against Italy.
Only a hand injury Jonny Gray picked up in the Calcutta Cup clash, which ruled him out of the rest of the tournament, allowed Gilchrist a way back into the side in the first place. He impressed in the win over France and is sure to get the nod again against Wales.
‘You should never count your chickens,’ he said. ‘You never know until the team is announced whether you’re going to be playing because they’re looking for different combinations for different games.
‘Spending a bit of time out of the team or fighting for your place just makes you better. I’ve been fighting tooth and nail in training but nobody gets to see that.
‘I always believed I had attributes that I could bring to the table for the team. I was always pushing hard and I believed I could force my way in this tournament. I was as hungry as ever against Italy and France and I know that to keep my place in the team, I need to be like that every time I put the jersey on.’
Gilchrist is also looking forward to going up against Wales captain and fellow second-row Alun Wyn Jones, who was at the centre of the Joe Marler groin-grabbing incident in last weekend’s defeat to England.
Marler has been cited for his actions and faces a lengthy ban.
‘I would have burst out laughing if it had happened to me,’ said Gilchrist. ‘We all get it drilled into us there are cameras everywhere. You can’t get away with things like that. Never in my life would I want to retaliate either as it would hurt my team. If you are ill-disciplined, it costs your team and it costs you Test matches.
‘Alun Wyn Jones is a world-class player. I enjoyed the challenge from the French locks at the weekend and it is another big challenge to go up against a guy like him in Cardiff.’