by Ryan D Jaeger
One thing has been glaringly obvious this week. The silence out of the
Welsh camp. Warren Gatland couldn't get enough airtime last
week leading into the England game, but what a difference a week makes.
Wales face a resurgent Scotland who, despite their loss to France, have shown
huge improvement in their overall game and unlike Scottish teams of the last
decade seem to have a lot more potential improvement in them.
But for Welsh fans things could not look much worse in a World Cup year. Gatland has been talking about building but
patience is wearing thin with disgruntled Welsh fans. Although it was their
second string props that got hammered by the English front row, Welsh teams have a
knack of winning from a position of weakness in the forwards. This backline
looked clueless with an out of sorts Stephen Jones running the show. The word is
that he will rest because of niggling injuries with Hook moving into the pivot
role, but only those who believe in fairy tales will buy that.
And please. Why they insist on retaining Jamie Roberts, who two years ago was rated as the world's
best 12, at centre, is totally beyond me. He looks sluggish in that position
which requires a whole different skill set.
Wales need something big from their big names.
Scotland is without a doubt a team on the up and Andy Robinson will take
heart from the fact that his team showed resilience against a French team who
looked like they might run away with it. Their win over the Boks in the Autumn
no doubt provided the team with the tonic they needed and they look set to
register their first win in 2011. Captain Alastair Kellock looks like he belongs
in the role
and with the formidable physique of Richie Gray next to him, they have the making of a
locking pair that could go down in Scottish folklore.
Scotland start as a 2.5 point favourite at most bookies which looks a fairly comfortable
margin. With a front row that won't struggle like it did against
the French and a back row that looks a lot better balanced than their Welsh
counterparts, the likes of centre Ansbro will have ample opportunity to punch
holes in the Welsh midfield.
Back Scotland - 2.5 points at 1.9 (9/10) at
Centrebet
- get a £5 ZERO DEPOSIT FREE BET.
In the other matches this weekend, England (22.5 points at 1.9
- Centrebet) will be too
strong for Italy and France (2.5 points at 1.9) should account for the Irish in
what will likely be a tight match.
Look at margins for the Wales / Scotland matchup, the best value I could find
is Scotland by 6-10 points at 9/2 (888Sport.com - get your
risk free £20 NO LOSE BET).
