Scotland desperate to end Welsh hoodoo

Scotland are desperate to shake off their Six Nations losers tag today against Wales, says back-rower David Denton.

The Scots have lost eight straight games in the championship, their worst ever run in the 17 years since it was expanded to six teams.

And last week’s 15-9 defeat to England wiped away almost all of the pre-tournament optimism that had been built up since last year’s encouraging performance at the World Cup.Denton confessed he and his colleagues are fed-up with their rotten run of results and the grind of trying to explain where the team is going.

“It can be tiring having to come out and say the same things again and again after another defeat,” explained the Bath number eight.

“But none of us are here to pay lip service. We play rugby to win games.

“Yeah, we’ve been a bit tired of being where we have been in the last few years, especially after taking some huge steps forward in the last 12 months.

“But I’m confident in this team and this coaching staff.

“We’re tired of losing but now it’s time to change that. It’s not just about playing well. We’ve done that in a lot of matches and lost. That’s not good enough. We want to play well and win.”

Wales have won eight successive Tests against the Scots, while Scotland’s last win in Cardiff came 14 years ago. But Wales assistant coach Shaun Edwards played down the significance of that run.

“Every game is a different entity. The fact that we’ve won our last eight means nothing.

“We have a lot of respect for Scotland - they bring the best out of us. The teams that bring the best out of you are the teams that you know can hurt you.

“You have to be switched on in defence and be ready. One year, they came down and they were the better team, but we’ve done okay since then.

“Scotland have agreed to have the (stadium) roof closed, which shows they want to come and play rugby as well, and I am pretty sure it’s going to be an exciting game.”

Welsh center Jonathan Davies will clock up a half-century of caps in the game.

“Growing up as a kid, you think one or two caps for Wales and you would be proud. To make 50 is really humbling, and hopefully we can get the result and have a good celebration afterwards. I am chuffed to bits,” Davies said.