SCOTLAND V WALES (Saturday KO 5pm)

THERE is no hiding place for Wales, admits assistant coach Neil Jenkins after the 26-19 opening day Six Nations setback against England at the Millennium Stadium.

The Welsh team now have to get the show back on the road in the difficult arena of Murrayfield, when the record shows only three victories in the last 20 years.

Jenkins agrees that they all deserve the criticism which has come their way in bucketfuls since the England game last Friday.

“There’s no hiding place, it was a reality check and we can’t hide from the fact that we have lost a lot of games,” he said after the England defeat stretched their winless run to eight matches.

“We all get criticised when we haven’t won, but we deserve it, we haven’t played to the right standard and we’ve just got to take it on the chin.

“We have either been pegged back or come up short. It’s not easy after a defeat, especially if it’s against England, it was close, only seven points separated us, but we’ve got to move on and try to get a win.”

Jenkins warns the team must cut out the mistakes if they are to achieve that elusive victory and stop the rot at Murrayfield on Saturday.

“It was errors, the same as always, and they happened again on Friday,” he said. “We created a lot of opportunities but didn’t take them and we gave them a soft seven points, they scored more points than us with a player in the sin bin. It was pretty tight but it was another defeat”

Wales are now rapidly turning their attentions to Murrayfield and their test against a Scottish team who, though beaten by France, still managed to score three tries.

And Jenkins insists Wales are capable of getting it right, and by playing some attractive rugby.

“Some of the stuff we have done is very good, we’ve played some fantastic rugby and I know we can do it, we could have on Friday when we played some great rugby in stages,” he said.

“But it’s all about winning and we need to get across the line, when we do we’ll turn the corner.

“It’ll be tough in Scotland, we were lucky to come back against them at the end last year and they have scored some good tries. Murrayfield is a tough place to go and they have improved a great deal.

“Andy Robinson (Scotland’s coach and former England chief) is very passionate about the game, he’s a very intense bloke and they’ve got Gregor Townsend there as well, he’s a Scottish legend who likes to play rugby.

“But some of our players are world class and can be deadly, as they showed at the start of the second half (against England), but they are not getting it quite right.”

Jenkins also defended Wales’ style of play, the form of Jamie Roberts and the half back partnership of Mike Phillips and Stephen Jones.

“We’re happy with the way we’re playing, we’ve just got to get better and make the right decisions,” he said.

“Jamie Roberts had one of his quieter games, but we know how good a player he is, though we’d like to see him carrying a bit more.

“Everyone seems to blame the half backs if it’s not going well, I had my share and was blamed if the scrum or line-out didn’t go well.

“I would always pick Mike and Stephen at 10, they are both very talented and we’ve got to back these players at certain times.

“For me the half backs we have got are fantastic, everyone has got a view but it’s the view here that matters.”