Blair: Give Williams time

Scotland scrum-half Mike Blair insists the team are feeling no pressure despite two successive defeats in their opening RBS 6 Nations games.

Matt Williams’ side travel to Rome on the back of two defeats knowing that a win over the struggling Italians, who are also pointless after two defeats, will probably see the Scots avoid the wooden spoon.

However, the Edinburgh Gunners’ number nine insists there is no panic among the players and that as soon as Williams’ new ideas begin to filter through, Scotland’s results will look after themselves.

Blair said: “It would give the country and Matt a huge boost if we could win but, as we have all said, it’s about putting things in place for the future.

“Inside the camp, although we’re desperate to win, we don’t feel as much pressure as the public and media are putting on us.

“We know what we’re trying to do, we’re trying to put systems in place for the future and we’re trying to work on them now.

“The way that we played against England proved that we could play top-quality stuff against good opposition.

“It’s a case of just relaxing a bit. Against Wales we were tense and worried about what was going on, what was happening and how we were going to play.

“Before the Welsh game we hadn’t had any physical opposition to try things out against.

“But now we’ve had a couple of games obviously we should be able to put our plans into place more effectively against Italy.

“There is a time and place where the results will be all-important but, at the moment, we have a new coach, a reasonably new set of players and young players making their debuts or with one or two caps.

“It’s not an excuse but guys have to get used to what we’re trying to do.

“Wales was a huge disappointment and we won’t deny that but hopefully we’ve improved already and hopefully we’ll keep making those small steps and improve further.”

Blair has come on as substitute in Scotland’s first two games and the Edinburgh player admits he is desperate to start in Rome.

He said: “It’s been frustrating. There wasn’t a lot I could do in 10 minutes against Wales although I got a better crack of the whip against England when I got half an hour.

“It was good to get a bit of game time and play your way into the match rather than run around trying to make a quick impact.

“Matt talks about it being a 22-man game and that substitutes coming on isn’t just a panic thing, the process has been thought about beforehand.

“So although it’s frustrating I can’t complain too much. It’s up to Matt whether I play or not.

“All I can do is play well when I get the opportunity and put the ball in his court.”