Howley sticks by back-row boys for clash with Scots
Rob Howley has put his trust in the back-row which started against England as Wales bid to keep their bid for Six Nations glory alive by maintaining a stranglehold on Scotland.
He’s kept Ross Moriarty at No.8 and Justin Tipuric and Sam Warburton as his flankers with Taulupe Faletau again among the replacements.
Faletau, as a result of two knee injuries, has made only a couple of 80-minute appearances for his club Bath this season, yet he will offer a considerable impact off the bench at Murrayfield, if required and not used by the clock or on reputation.
It was the mystifying substitution of the in-form Moriarty with Faletau with 27 minutes remaining against England and Wales in the lead which brought caretaker coach Howley plenty of flak from a baffled public and pundits.
Wales – the replacement of scrumhalf dictator Rhys Webb and rampant hooker Ken Owens also caused consternation – proceeded to throw away the lead to lose 21-16 to the defending champions at the Principality Stadium.
Howley and Wales can’t afford any more slip-ups because defeat at Murrayfield against a Scotland team looking to bounce back from a bruising reverse to France in Paris would almost certainly end their quest for the European title.
Scotland have the same goal as they seek a first victory over Wales during the Warren Gatland and Howley era. Wales are attempting to extend their winning streak to 10 after outscoring the Scots to the tune of 260-138.
The have also rattled up 28 tries, conceding just eight in return, in the nine meetings and Howley has given a vote of confidence to a side that has won four of its last five matches apart from the fit-again George North returning on the right-wing in place of Alex Cuthbert.
North, scorer of 28 tries in 66 Tests, had suffered a ‘dead leg’ during Wales’ Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome on February 5.
The only other change is on the bench with lock Luke Charteris involved for the first time in Wales’ current Six Nations campaign after overcoming a hand fracture and hamstring problems.
But, like his Bath colleague Faletau, he’s been desperately short of game-time because of injuries since joining the Aviva Premiership club last summer. Charteris replaces Cory Hill on the bench, which means Newport Gwent Dragons don’t have player involvement in a Wales match-day squad for the first time since autumn 2010.
And Cardiff Blues don’t fare much better with Warburton their only representative, highlighting the low standing of the two regions based in east Wales. “We have been able to select from a position of strength, which is a huge positive.
“We stepped up a level against England, and we need to take the positives from that performance and turn it into 80 minutes against Scotland at Murrayfield,” declared Howley.
Scotland’s Huw Jones hopes the element of surprise can help him shock Wales at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The Edinburgh-born centre, who plays his club rugby for South African Super Rugby franchise the Stormers, is relishing his first RBS 6 Nations campaign.
While the majority of his Dark Blues team-mates will be familiar with Rob Howley’s squad from their Guinness PRO12 clashes, Jones is stepping into the unknown this weekend, but the 23-year-old hopes it will be the Welsh who will be left scratching their heads at full-time.
“I see the fact I haven’t played against most of these guys as an advantage as well as a disadvantage,” he said ahead of his maiden Dragons showdown.
“I might not know what to expect from them, but they don’t know what to expect from me too.
“I get a lot of my knowledge from my team-mates by asking them what they would do.
“Once you’re out on the field it’s not so much the analysis that goes through your head anyway but more the actual situation there and then.
“I’m all for a bit of analysis but at the end of the day you can’t always predict what someone will come up with off the cuff, so you don’t want to get it in your head they are going to play a certain way in case they do catch you off guard.”
Interim Wales boss Howley will no doubt have studied Jones’ five previous Test appearances in the hope of finding out how he will approach Saturday’s game, and will have noted the budding midfield relationship with Glasgow’s Alex Dunbar.
“It’s a fairly new partnership but I think we are improving game by game,” Jones said of the link-up, which will be rekindled next term when he completes a switch to Scotstoun.
“Defensively we have got a little bit better. We’ve been working hard at making sure we talk to each other the whole time.
“In the attacking side we also complement each other too and it’s gone quite well.
“We get on pretty well both on and off the pitch, so that helps form that bond.
“We’re training with each other every day right now, so you end up being able to read how each other plays and then react to it.
“That bond was probably the biggest factor in my decision to sign for Glasgow – and not just him.
“I’ve felt it with the rest of back line, which is pretty much the entire Glasgow back division.”
Scotland head coach Vern Cotter will have to hope the well-oiled Warriors back line built by Gregor Townsend can help mask the loss of skipper Greig Laidlaw.
The Dark Blues’ master tactician and ace goal-kicker has been ruled out for the remainder of the competition after suffering ankle ligament damage during the defeat to France last time out.
His replacement will be either Ali Price or Henry Pyrgos – both team-
mates at Glasgow – and Jones reckons that should limit the disruption felt by the national team.
He said: “That is the silver lining for us.
“It is a big loss with Greig being out but the fact we have two other scrumhalves who are experienced is great.
“Henry and Ali both play regularly with (stand-off ) Finn Russell at Glasgow so it could be a great thing that they have that partnership going already.
“It’s not like we have someone totally new coming in.
“They are both quality players, so I don’t think it will be a problem for us.
“Henry is similar to Greig in that he can marshal the game really well, while Ali has quite a bit of pace and loves going forward.
“We have guys who are used to playing with both styles so it is up to the coaches what they want out of the game.”
Jones expects Wales to target the Scottish scrum, which has creaked during both their opening-day win over Ireland and the Les Bleus loss in Paris.
But he stressed: “The main focus is actually on ourselves.
“I don’t think we played to our full potential in either of our two games so far.
“It was nice to win against Ireland but we were gutted with the France result so we really need to step it up.
“We want to be going forward and improve on those two performances.”