Wales at Worryfield

After all, resurgent Wales have achieved their first victory over England in Cardiff for 12 years, they've hammered Italy by six tries to one and they've achieved a stunning victory in France after looking down and out.

Scotland, on the other hand, have been struggling for years, their club rugby all but finished, their regions pretty much a disaster and the national side floundering.

A Welsh win at Murrayfield, therefore, ought to be no problem at all. And then it will be on to the Grand Slam and Triple Crown clincher against Ireland at the Millennium Stadium, with a success starved nation ready to go wild.

So says the script, but hang on a minute.

For only yesterday, the first day of the week in the build-up to the match, we were reminded on a WRU Press release, no less, of previous high profile Welsh failures at Murrayfield.

Gathering at a Press conference, eagerly awaiting the lowdown on the alarming increase in Welsh injuries, we were initially given two hand-outs.

The first was a list of North Walians who have been capped by Wales, coinciding with hooker Robin McBryde becoming the highest with his 35th cap in the French match - with due respect to that part of the country, not the most astounding piece of information.

Then came the second one which was headlined 'Wales disasters in Scotland.' There followed a list of five shock defeats Wales have suffered north of the border when they had been expected to win - in 1920 (9-5, at Inverleith), 1951 (19-0), 1955 (14-8), 1975 (12-10) and 1999 (33-20).

Now what kind of information was that to hand out to the media? It wasn't even tongue-in-cheek, but presented matter-of-fact, helpful to us rugby writers and broadcasters, for sure, but hardly what was wanted when we are all asked to try to be positive.

A bit like giving a penalty away in Wales' own 22 in front of their own posts.

There was no need to remind one and all how tricky it can be in Scotland, especially when they are the underdogs, and big ones at that.

For the Scots have a knack of upsetting the odds, they love to spoil the party. Their most celebrated victims in recent years weren't Wales but England arriving cocksure of winning the Grand Slam.

They were met not only by a fully fired up Scottish team, but by an absolute downpour and they fell by the wayside in one of the biggest rugby upsets of modern times.

So the warning signals are there loud and clear, even if we didn't need to be reminded in such graphic terms in one of the WRU's own hand-outs.

That aside, Wales have their own internal worries in the form of an ever-growing injury list. Their form this season is all the more remarkable given they have been without players of the calibre of Colin Charvis, Sonny Parker, Dafydd Jones, Duncan Jones and, more latterly, Hal Luscombe in France and skipper Gareth Thomas for the second half.

But players simply step in and replace those ruled out as if nothing has happened - Gethin Jenkins and Kevin Morgan the best examples.

Now there is a problem at hooker with all three candidates - Mefin Davies, Robin McBryde and Steve Jones - either injured or recovering.

Of all those who will be absent at Murrayfield I think Thomas will be missed the most, not because he's an outstanding full back - he isn't - but because of the sheer enthusiasm he brings to the side, his infectious qualities and the way he's got the side playing.

That will be hard to replace, though Morgan, sure to be the full back in Scotland, is probably a better player in the position.

It looks like McBryde will be the hooker when coach Mike Ruddock names his side tomorrow, while Luscombe will return on the right wing if he's fit.

For all those who say he's not an international class wing, he's in the side more for his defensive qualities than anything else. The management like a small wing and a big one to complement one another and they favour Luscombe's key role in their rush defence, his ability to nail down an opponent quickly.

More fans than ever before - and that takes some doing - will travel to Scotland to support Wales with the hard pressed Scottish Rugby Union returning thousands of unsold tickets. The one thing which the Scots do well is the pre-match pomp, the pageant, the massed pipers, the cast of thousands on the pitch and even on the roof of the stand.

It's a sight for sore eyes, even if you can understand Clive Woodward's pungent observation a couple of years ago that it's a rugby match not a pop concert.

It may all serve to rouse the Scottish team from their slumbers, but it could also inspire Wales, too.

Four down, one to go and a Grand Slam showdown against Ireland to come.

Now that really would be some occasion.