Robin McBryde: Wary of Scotland threat

Robin McBryde believes Scotland will be "a tough nut to crack" for Wales in Saturday's Six Nations clash at Murrayfield.

Both teams head into the contest on the back of successive victories and remain in title contention behind unbeaten tournament favourites England.

Wales have beaten Scotland five times on the bounce - their last defeat being in 2007 when Chris Paterson kicked seven penalties - and a comfortable win on Saturday could take them top of the championship prior to England hosting Italy on Sunday.

"We've had a good week of preparation. The boys were on the ball this morning, it was good," Wales assistant coach and forwards specialist McBryde said.

"But Scotland are going to be a tough nut to crack.

"I would imagine their confidence levels will be buoyed after the last win against Ireland. If they can win with that amount of possession and territory (Ireland dominated both areas), then I am sure they will be looking to build on that.

"It's going to be a big challenge for us - Murrayfield is never an easy place to come.

"I think both teams are building momentum, based on the last two results and looking ahead to the next two games. It could be a strong finish for either one of us."

Key to Wales demolition of Italy in Rome a fortnight ago was the work done by a fired-up pack, and that unit has been strengthened this weekend through lock Alun-Wyn Jones and flanker Sam Warburton reclaiming starting places.

"We raised our game as a pack of forwards against Italy, and I think we are in a good place at the moment," McBryde added.

"We are confident we can put Scotland under a bit of pressure tomorrow and ask some questions of them."

Even though Warburton, Wales' 2012 Grand Slam skipper is back, his back-row colleague Ryan Jones remains as captain, leading his country for the 32nd time - an ongoing record.

And McBryde feels the 31-year-old's contribution to Wales' Six Nations campaign cannot be understated.

"Ryan has learnt a lot from his past experiences as a captain and as a player," McBryde said.

"We sat down and spoke about the autumn (series) at the start of this campaign. He was pretty disappointed with the autumn, but I think he has been able to put that experience to good use without forcing it.

"When someone is handed the captaincy they sometimes think they've got to become a completely different person and try to control everything, but Ryan is not forcing it. He takes it in his stride.

"He has been able to focus on his own game as well, and he has been very effective on and off the field."

Wales completed their preparations today in a cloudy and wet Edinburgh, and although tomorrow's weather forecast is nowhere near as bad as the deluge that fell in Rome, conditons could again be testing.

"Scotland are on the back of a couple of good wins. It will be a full stadium and a fantastic atmosphere tomorrow," Wales skills coach Neil Jenkins said.

"If we keep doing what we've been doing, keep playing like we can, we've got a great chance.

"It's nice to play good rugby and express the way you play. We do like to play with ball in hand, but at the end of the day it is all about winning."