5 Talking Points: Steve Tandy Previews Crucial Six Nations Meeting Against Scotland

Thursday, 19 February 2026 at 16:12

byHarry Tovey

Wales head coach Steve Tandy on Thursday morning announced his side to play Scotland at Principality Stadium on Saturday afternoon (KO: 16:40).

The 46-year-old made four changes to the Wales side, which lost 54-12 against France last Sunday in Cardiff.

Watch the Guinness Six Nations at your local Greene King sports pub.

On some of those changes that Tandy has made, Leicester Tigers’ Gabriel Hamer-Webb will start on the wing, as he is set for his international debut after replacing in-form winger Ellis Mee.

Elsewhere, Scarlets’ Sam Costelow will make his international return as he replaces Dan Edwards to join Tomos Williams as the half-back pairing. The 25-year-old’s last appearance for Wales came back in July last year, when Wales lost 24-19 in Kitakyushu, Japan.

Tandy has given a first Six Nations start to Dragons RFC second row Ben Carter, and Taine Plumtree is poised at open-side following coming off the bench in Wales’ first two outings in the Six Nations.

Scroll down for Ruck Rugby’s Five Talking Points from Steve Tandy’s press conference from the Vale Resort.

1- Hamer-Webb braced for international debut

Hamer-Webb, who left Cardiff Rugby at the start of the 2025/26 season, will become the 1,221st Wales men’s international come Saturday afternoon.

In what is his first Six Nations campaign, following his first international call-up, the 25-year-old joins Louis Rees-Zammit and Josh Adams in the back-three.

On the winger starting, Tandy added: “We feel Gabe adds something to our group for this week, the way we want to play Scotland.

“The way Gabe has come in and trained, I think his performances for Leicester, when we were looking into him, were outstanding.

Obviously, looking into his background in Leicester, even when he wasn’t in the team, how hard he was working and how diligent he’s been.

“Since coming into this environment, he’s been excellent.”

2- Outside-half change in comes Costelow

Despite Ospreys’s Dan Edwards having started in Wales’ last seven Tests, which dates back to them ending their horrid 18-Test losing run, he has been left out completely for the contest against Scotland.

Harlequins’ Jarrod Evans has been selected on the bench for Saturday’s game, which leaves Costelow to start his first Six Nations game since losing to Italy in the 2024 edition of the championship.

Speaking on Costelow coming straight into the starting XV, Tandy said: “Costy has been doing really well.

“From how he’s come back following not being involved in the autumn, I think he’s really responded.

“Looking at his games against Northampton, Ulster, and I thought he was excellent against Bristol as well.

“He’s been super competitive in the environment.

“With Costy, his kicking game is outstanding, and defensively, he’s really good. But also the way he’s attacked the game, the way he’s played it. He’s all-round a really good footballer.”

On the omission of Edwards, Tandy added: “Dan’s done really well.

“But Dan is a youngman, and has played a lot of rugby. Again with the six-day turnaround, it’s a good opportunity to freshen the team up a little bit.

3- Beard dropped following mistake which led to France’s fourth try?

Montpellier’s Adam Beard, like Edwards, has been dropped from the match-day 23, as he is replaced by Dragons’ Carter in the second row. It was a clueless error which France’s dominant back-line punished Wales for last Sunday.

After attempting to kick in-behind, it soon resulted in Matthieu Jalibert scoring France’s fourth of the afternoon, as Tandy was pictured angrily following the mistake.

“It wasn’t the ultimate factor (the mistake),” said Tandy on the reasoning for not including the 30-year-old in the squad.

“At the end of the day, there are a lot of things that you take into consideration. Look, he’s a seasoned international, he’s done some amazing things for Wales, and it’s never going to drop him after that one moment.

“We feel for this game going into Scotland, we feel that Ben is going to add value to the game, and also it’s a six-day turnaround, and Beardy played the last two games, and we feel it’s a good opportunity to get Ben into the team.

On Carter’s first Six Nations start, Tandy added: “It’s a great opportunity for him.

“He’s done really well for the Dragons, every week he’s really consistent, he takes on information really well. The way he’s trained, the way he’s come off the bench in the South Africa game, which was a tough spot.

“The way he called the lineouts, he’s earned this opportunity, and we’re really excited for him.

4- Tandy faces familiar faces on Saturday

Come Saturday afternoon, Tandy will be coming up against his former Scotland boss Gregor Townsend. He spent six years as Scotland’s defence coach under the guidance of Townsend before he took over as Wales’ new head coach in September.

On facing his former employers, Tandy added: “Every game is emotional, but I’ve got a lot of friends and a lot of players who have gone through a lot with me, sort of six years of coaching them.

“Seeing them become the team they are is really pleasing, seeing them last week beat England was always good.

“For me, it will be a huge game, but it’s no different to any other game; we want to win.

“We want to put a performance in, and it’ll be a special day, because like I said, there’s a lot of amazing memories from Scotland, but we’re ready to create memories for ourselves here in Wales.

5- Returning back to winning ways for Wales

Over their last 25 Test matches, dating back to the 2023 World Cup, Wales have lost 23 of 25 internationals, leading to a 13-match Six Nations losing streak.

Their last home triumph in the championship came in 2022 against Scotland, a narrow 20-17 win. However, Welsh rugby has been struggling for some time now, and there was surprise to see a Six Nations crowd of only 57,744 against France last Sunday.

That was their lowest attendance for a Six Nations match in Cardiff. The challenge has become even more difficult following Scotland's Calcutta Cup win over England, 31-20.

“For me, it’s about doing what we feel is right for our development and the performance,” continued Tandy.

“Ultimately, we want to win games. Before we can do that, we have to build more consistent performances. For me, you find out more and more about these players as we go.

“We’re finding out about them in the most sort of high-profile situations, against five world-class teams.

“It’s about making sure we’re doing the right thing, but also the balance of what's needed for the group and the individual.

“We’ve got to have one eye on the future, but we've got to be creating a consistent and cohesive team too.”