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No way James is letting Scotland off the Hook

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Pablo Luna - Moonlighting for Betfair. Pablo tells us why Wales are likely to carry on where they left off against England last Saturday. Bad news for Scotland...

The sharpening of the axe does not slow the work of the woodcutter and so Mark Jones found out to his cost after being ruthlessly ejected from the Wales Rugby Squad. Rather than bask in the glory of their unforeseen win against England, Warren Gatland was quick (within 24 hours) to talk about areas where his team must improve with no guarantee of places!

He elaborated about optimum performances and error-free rugby. He emphasised that he needed 2 years with this crop of players to get them where he wants but the work has already started.

He told Mark Jones that there was a few things for him to work on - this is 'rugby speak' for saying you are not good enough! Speed was sacrificed for power and ball retention. Alix Popham felt his boot for the same reason. Now, losing the ball in a Welsh shirt is not an option! Markers have been put down for the rest of the Welsh squad.

Despite world class potential, he repeated his annoyance about how quiet 'man of the match' Hook was. He insisted on better kicking out of the hand and a more vocal help to the team. Notice has been served. The Welsh players have been astounded by the 'face barking' they have already received from the coaches!

As predicted on this 'must view' site: (http://betting.betfair.com/rugby-union/six-nations/gatland-can-change-the-fortune-080108.html) Gatland has got Wales [5.8] off the floor post Rugby World Cup and it is inevitable that they will continue to improve throughout the tournament. They are now my second choice to France [1.78] to win the RBS Six Nations Championship (prices with Betfair).

Gatland was the reason why Wales beat England in the first round match. He knows that Wales were jammy to beat self-destructing England and refuses to be carried away with the result. Quite right too, most learned judges (including the Welsh) accepted England touched insanity and then inwardly collapsed.

Blues centre Tom Shanklin rightly replaces hapless Sonny Parker. Up front Ian Evans replaces injured team-mate Jones who has an ankle injury.

Scotland are so bruised after their hammering against France they will provide soft opposition and give Wales another chance to improve quicker than would otherwise have been expected. I am backing Wales for an emphatic win at [1.32] whilst Scotland are [4.7]. Better value may be in backing Wales [1.98] giving the Scots [1.98] a 12.5pts lead or Wales [1.62] for half-time/full-time win. (Prices with Betfair).

A phrase muttered from the Scots camp is that they are looking 'not to have a bad day'. There has been no real conviction that you would expect from a wounded animal this week, so what does that tell you?

Scotland's coach Hadden has been pedestrian and said "We believed last week we could win in Cardiff and that still remains the case. Scotland have lost key momentum, but I'd give the same players another chance to redeem themselves". This includes the unrepentant head-butting Henderson who described his clash with French centre Damien Traille in Sunday's Six Nations defeat as 'unfortunate' and claims 'there is a lot of negative stuff going on outside the camp'. I thought there was some negative stuff inside the camp - namely him!

The Scotland error rate was high and their reactions slow and for them to win in Cardiff would need a gigantic swing in form and I cannot see it happening! Haddens' lame excuse about the bounce of the ball helping the French will not help his team and that is a mistake to dwell on it! Those who bleat 'bad luck' do no service for their team. Beaten players love an excuse! The Welsh will be buzzing and confident and the Scots will be under immense pressure. The short turnaround will not help the Scots either!

Chris Paterson being recalled to full-back for his 83rd cap will help Scotland marginally. He needs only 11 more points to overtake Gavin Hastings' record as Scotland's leading points scorer in the history of the championship but I fear he will have to wait for the next game for that to happen! Do you agree? I predict a score of Wales 27 Scotland 12, maybe a little more...