MIKE Blair enjoyed some great days as a Scotland player, but only once did he savour success against the Welsh. That was in 2003 at Murrayfield, and the scrum-half went on to be on the losing side on every subsequent occasion - eight times in all.
It is a typical tale for men of his and subsequent generations who wore the dark blue. Not since 2002 has a Scotland team returned from Wales with a victory, and only four wins in all have been recorded by the team since the turn of the century.
Now one of Gregor Townsend’s assistant coaches, Blair knows that the history of the fixture has some relevance to this afternoon’s match; indeed, he believes it can be a positive motivation to the visitors. But by the same token, he is convinced that the fact this game is being played in Llanelli’s Parcy y Scarlets, not in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, means it will be a very different occasion to the rest.
“I’m not too sure how many of the pre-2012/13 games the current crop [of Scotland players] has watched - hopefully for my sake not many,” Blair said yesterday. “There is that history element in the 18 years - it won’t be so much what happened in those specific games.
“But this squad are really keen to make history. That’s a huge driving force behind what we’re doing, and having that 18-year stat there to be broken is something we can really challenge for.”
Seating almost 75,000 spectators, a full Principality Stadium is one of the great venues in world rugby, at once intimidating and inspiring - especially when the roof is closed and the raucous noise of a nation at play swirls right round the ground. A full Parc y Scarlets, conversely, holds only 15,000 and does not have a roof - and of course, more pertinently, it will in fact be all but empty today.
That has to make a substantial difference to the feel of the match, as will the fact that many members of this Scots squad have won there on club duty in the recent past. “Ask most of the guys where their favourite place to play games is and I’d have thought the Principality would be up there,” Blair continued. “It’s an amazing pitch and atmosphere and arena. I know our record’s not been great there, but I think the guys enjoy playing there.
“But it’ll be so different at Scarlets. There are good memories from there, and that might be something as well, it being a place where many of the squad have won.
“I don’t think [the lack of a crowd] will be an advantage in its own right, but compared to playing in a packed-out Principality Stadium there is a big difference there. I think I’m right in saying in March the roof was due to be open. The other part of it is when the roof is closed the noise is a lot more as well - and that can really spur them on.
“So them not having the crowd there takes a little bit of that away, but crowds whether for you or against you create energy. And a big thing for our players is to create our own energy in a very quiet Scarlets stadium.”
Seven months ago Scotland travelled south in high spirits following Six Nations wins over Italy and France, and were frustrated to learn on the eve of the game that it had been called off as Covid restrictions began to tighten around the UK. The momentum generated by those two Championship victories may have dissipated somewhat, but last week’s win over Georgia did no harm to the confidence levels.
“We had great momentum going into that game [in March] and there was a lot of frustration about it being called off, because we felt that they were there kind of there for the taking,” Blair added. “A lot of time has gone by since then, we got a good win against Georgia under our belt, we’ve got a few guys playing right at the top level back in the team. We’re still aware that Wales are a very strong team, but we feel we’re in a good place at the moment.”
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