The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)

Scots are inspired by chance to gain revenge in Wales

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The fabled Principali­ty Stadium atmosphere is not something Huw Jones, recalls with fondness.

“I’ve played there once, and it wasn’t great for me,” the centre said of February’s 34-7 Six Nations debacle in Cardiff, ahead of the revisit there in the Autumn Tests on Saturday.

“People always say how great the atmosphere is, and I suppose it is the sort of place that can be hostile if it’s not going your way, but no one really played well for us that day.”

Jones was out of his normal slot at 12, but doesn’t think that made a tremendous difference to his or Scotland’s performanc­e.

“I think it was just that game,” he added. “It was a bit of a shocker and we’re looking forward to putting it right this time.

“As a group we were fairly inexperien­ced then. Gregor (Townsend) had only a few games in charge and there were a lot of new players in that squad.

“We’ve had a lot of games together since then, and this time round there won’t be any complacenc­y.

“Last time we’d had a pretty good autumn and had gone into the Six Nations maybe believing in the hype a bit.

“It definitely came back to sting us, so we won’t be doing that again.”

But although many thought Scotland played too open a game in February, Jones doesn’t think they should sacrifice flair to play safe.

“I think we still want to stick to our style of rugby, but be more aware of tactical elements of the game,” he said.

“Last time for the first five or six minutes the ball didn’t go out of play and we were pretty knackered.

“I’m sure they were as well, but they took an opportunit­y straight after that and got points on the board, which put us in a tough position.

“We still want to play our style, just be better at it.”

Jones, who missed the summer tour due to corrective wrist surgery, feels he’s slowly getting back to his best and settling in at Glasgow.

“It’s good to be back in camp,” he said. “I feel like I’m building (form).

“I had a bit of time with the injury, had a good preseason, but I wasn’t able to do everything still coming back from injury.

“The games I have played I’ve improved each one, I think.”

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