Scotland v Wales: Team line-ups, kick-off time, key quotes, predictions, odds and where to watch on TV

By Sporting Life

Rugby Union

Sun March 10, 2019 · 6y ago

Our guide to Saturday's Guinness Six Nations clash between Scotland and Wales includes team news, predictions, statistics and more.

Six Nations schedule, TV guide, results, table & history

What time is kick off & what channel is it on?

The match, which takes place in Edinburgh, will start at 1415 GMT on Saturday March 9 and will be screened live on BBC and S4C.

Scotland v Wales: Team news

Wales head coach Warren Gatland has made one change to his starting line-up for Saturday's Guinness Six Nations clash against Scotland.

Ospreys lock Adam Beard replaces Cory Hill, who will miss the rest of the tournament after suffering an ankle injury during Wales' 21-13 victory over England 10 days ago.

Scarlets forward Jake Ball takes Beard's place on the bench, with Gatland announcing the team for Murrayfield 48 hours earlier than initially planned.

Although full-back Leigh Halfpenny continued his comeback for the Scarlets three days ago after suffering concussion in November, Gatland has retained Ospreys centre Owen Watkin as the outside back on replacement duty.

Scotland have suffered yet another injury setback with Sean Maitland and Chris Harris both ruled out of Saturday's clash with Wales.

Saracens wing Maitland picked up a foot injury during his club's win over Northampton last weekend while Harris suffered a calf strain as Newcastle beat Worcester.

Both players will now sit out the Dark Blues' penultimate Guinness Six Nations clash with Warren Gatland's side at Murrayfield, with Maitland's absence in particular another blow coach Gregor Townsend could do without having already lost full-back Stuart Hogg.

Scotland: Kinghorn (Edinburgh); Seymour (Glasgow); Grigg (Glasgow), Horne (Glasgow), Graham (Edinburgh), Russell (Racing 92), Price (Glasgow); Dell (Edinburgh), McInally (Edinburgh, capt), Nel (Edinburgh), Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Gray (Glasgow), Bradbury (Edinburgh), Ritchie (Edinburgh), Strauss (Sale). Replacements: Brown (Glasgow), Reid (London Irish), Berghan (Edinburgh), Toolis (Edinburgh), Watson (Edinburgh), Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne), Hastings (Glasgow), McGuigan (Sale).

Wales: L Williams (Saracens); G North (Ospreys), J Davies (Scarlets), H Parkes (Scarlets), J Adams (Worcester); G Anscombe (Cardiff Blues), G Davies (Scarlets); R Evans (Scarlets), K Owens (Scarlets), T Francis (Exeter), A Beard (Ospreys), A W Jones (Ospreys, capt), J Navidi (Cardiff Blues), J Tipuric (Ospreys), R Moriarty (Dragons). Replacements: E Dee (Dragons), N Smith (Ospreys), D Lewis (Cardiff Blues), J Ball (Scarlets), A Wainwright (Dragons), A Davies (Ospreys), D Biggar (Northampton), O Watkin (Ospreys).

Scotland v Wales: Odds & advice

Wales are 4/7 to keep alive their Grand Slam hopes with victory over Scotland, who are 11/8. It's 20/1 the draw and Scotland's handicap start is just three points. Click here for all the odds.

Tony Calvin's verdict (click here for full preview)

"The 'Doddie Weir Cup' – what a man, he is, by the way – is a tight match to call on the handicap, and in truth I was going to leave it alone from a betting point of view, but you can make a fair case for a minimum-stakes interest on Scotland-Wales on the half-time/full-time market at 6/1."

Scotland v Wales: Key quotes

Scotland forward Jonny Gray...

"Last week was a tough week, a real low feeling.

"We under-performed against France, we all know that. We didn't show up on the day. All credit to France, they played very well, but there were a lot of things we under-performed in.

"We had a look at it, had meetings together and individually, had two good training sessions, so that was good to get back. But it was a tough week.

"We have been brutally honest and it was tough to watch but the best thing to do is get back in training.

"It's not always nice to take but if we want to win and make our country proud, you have to do that."

Scotland's Tommy Seymour...

"It's about where we see ourselves and what we've done ourselves in this tournament come the end of it.

"There's been disappointment and we can certainly resurrect a lot of stuff in the next two games.

"In terms of what we want to get out of it, it's mainly about where we see ourselves and what we've done.

"It's a big year for every international side going into a World Cup and we've got a lot of things we want to just put right for ourselves, get across on the park for the fans, for us.

"If we can get two wins it puts us in a better light and does wonders for Scotland. That's our main concern."

Wales coach Warren Gatland...

"It was a fairly straightforward selection. After that performance against England they deserved the opportunity to back up.

"I think Leigh is still getting some games under his belt and getting some confidence back. He was good last weekend.

"It's a little bit unfair on Owen Watkin to leave him out as he's been doing a good job for us. It was a very simple selection meeting in terms of not a lot of discussion around selection.

"We've picked the same team apart from the two enforced changes. We didn't talk about other players potentially coming in."