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Six Nations
Date: Saturday, 9 February
Kick-off: 1400 GMT
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Coverage: Live on BBC One and S4C, BBC Sport website (UK users only) and 5 Live Sports Extra.
Highlights on BBC Sport website (UK users only). Watch in full on BBC iPlayer for seven days from Sunday (UK users only)
Wales aim to build on their opening Six Nations win over England while Scotland hope to recover from defeat to France.
Jamie Roberts makes his Wales debut at wing, centre Tom Shanklin comes in for Sonny Parker and Ian Evans replaces the injured Alun Wyn Jones at lock.
Scotland were already without injured full-back Rory Lamont, but wing Simon Webster (hamstring) withdrew on Friday.
Hugo Southwell takes the 15 shirt while Chris Paterson shifts to the wing on his return to the starting line-up.
Paterson will become Scotland’s most capped back, winning his 83rd cap to overtake Gregor Townsend, but had been pencilled in to start at full-back.
If we combine determination with Gatland’s plans for Welsh rugby we could become a real force by the next World Cup
Webster’s late withdrawal – which sees Ulster’s Simon Danielli taking Southwell’s place on the bench – means Paterson lines up opposite Wales debutant Roberts, who gets the nod over Mark Jones.
In the pack for Scotland, Kelly Brown takes over from David Callam at number eight.
Wales coach Warren Gatland and assistant Shaun Edwards are guarding against the euphoria that greeted their 26-19 win at Twickenham.
They cited England’s World Cup resurrection as an example of how things can turn around swiftly in Test rugby to help inspire last weekend’s victory.
Those events have been used to help remind Wales’ stars that Scotland could perform a similar turn around in fortunes at the Millennium Stadium in the wake of their 27-6 loss to France.
As if that is not enough of a warning against complacency to Wales, the manner in which Scotland demolished them up front at Murrayfield last season should be.
People are saying that we are really struggling and that the game against Wales is going to be a real slog
Prop Adam Jones suffered one of his most miserable scrummaging afternoons on that occasion and is desperate to make amends.
The line-out should also be a key area, with Evans keen to make the most of his chance in the absence of ankle-injury victim and fellow Osprey Alun Wyn Jones.
Scotland coach Frank Hadden has been under fire for picking the world’s most consistent goal-kicker Paterson on the bench against France.
Paterson is widely regarded as the visitors’ biggest threat and with such regular contact between rival players in the Magners League, Scotland are unlikely to lack self-belief when facing Wales.
That is certainly the message from scrum-half Mike Blair who feels Scotland supporters are right to be disappointed with what happened last weekend, but insists that the situation is retrievable.
“The game last week against France was the first time in a long time that the media and a lot of supporters were saying that Scotland were favourites to win, and I think we can overreact after one poor performance,” said Blair.
“People are saying that we are really struggling and that the game against Wales is going to be a real slog, but things don’t change that much in a week – you don’t go from being world beaters to wooden spooners that quickly.”
Wales wing Shane Williams, who faces a duel with fellow Osprey Nikki Walker in the Scotland 14 shirt, said: “We have to respect Scotland because they are a resilient side with a good set-piece and can keep the ball moving.
“They will be disappointed with the score against France, which I thought was quite flattering to France in the end. We can’t take our foot off the pedal because Scotland will punish you.”
Wales: Lee Byrne (Ospreys); Jamie Roberts (Blues), Tom Shanklin (Blues), Gavin Henson (Ospreys), Shane Williams (Ospreys); James Hook (Ospreys), Mike Phillips (Ospreys); Duncan Jones (Ospreys), Huw Bennett (Ospreys), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Ian Gough (Ospreys), Ian Evans (Ospreys), Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys), Martyn Williams (Blues), Ryan Jones (Ospreys, capt).
Replacements: Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Gethin Jenkins (Blues), Deiniol Jones (Blues), Gareth Delve (Gloucester), Dwayne Peel (Scarlets), Stephen Jones (Scarlets), Sonny Parker (Ospreys).
Scotland: Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh); Nikki Walker (Ospreys), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh), Andrew Henderson (Glasgow Warriors), Chris Paterson (Gloucester); Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors), Mike Blair (Edinburgh); Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh), Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Euan Murray (Northampton Saints), Nathan Hines (Perpignan), Jim Hamilton (Leicester Tigers), Jason White (Sale Sharks, capt), Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors), John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors).
Replacements: Fergus Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), Gavin Kerr (Edinburgh), Scott MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), Chris Cusiter (Perpignan), Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), Simon Danielli (Ulster).
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand).
Source: Wales v Scotland (Sat)
