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Wales host Scotland in the Six Nations on Saturday
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Dan Biggar has made a “miraculous recovery” from an ankle sprain to start
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Matt Scott has been replaced by Duncan Taylor for the Dark Blues
Wales and Scotland will be determined to get their Six Nations campaigns on track when they do battle in Cardiff on Saturday.
Both sides are winless after the tournament’s opening round and can ill afford defeat as it could have dire consequences for their Championship aspirations.
Wales head in to this fixture after securing a hard-fought 16-16 draw against Ireland in Dublin last weekend and Scotland suffered a frustrating 15-9 defeat to England in their opener at Murrayfield.
For the men in red Gareth Anscombe replaces Alex Cuthbert on the bench in the only change to the matchday squad.
Scotland centre Matt Scott injured a thigh muscle in training on Wednesday and has been replaced by Duncan Taylor of Saracens. Veteran Sean Lamont takes Taylor’s place among the replacements.
KEY STATS
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Wales’ eight victories over Scotland is the longest winning streak in this fixture, surpassing the seven in a row they previously managed between 1908 and 1914.
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Scotland’s last victory against Wales was by a tryless 21-9 win at Murrayfield in 2007 and they have not triumphed in Cardiff since 2002.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Wales: Dan Biggar
Scotland: Stuart Hogg
KEY BATTLE
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
2015: Wales won 26-23 in Edinburgh
2014: Wales won 51-3 in Cardiff
2013: Wales won 28-18 in Edinburgh
2012: Wales won 27-13 in Cardiff
2011: Wales won 24-6 in Edinburgh
2010: Wales won 31-24 in Cardiff
2009: Wales won 26-13 in Edinburgh
2008: Wales won 30-15 in Cardiff
2007: Scotland won 21-9 in Edinburgh
2006: Wales won 28-18 in Cardiff
LINE-UPS
Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton (c), 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Gareth Anscombe
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 David Denton, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Blair Cowan, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Sean Lamont
Date: Saturday, February 13
Venue: Millennium Stadium
Kick-off: 16:50 GMT
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: John Lacey (Ireland), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)