Forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys wants Wales to increase their physicality against Scotland after admitting they were second best in that department during the Round 1 defeat to Ireland.
The 29-7 loss against Ireland was partly due to Wales’ inability to secure their own ball at the breakdown, with Andy Farrell’s side winning six turnovers.
Defeat left Wayne Pivac’s defending champions level on points with Italy at the bottom of the Guinness Six Nations table, while Saturday’s opponents Scotland will be in a buoyant mood after winning consecutive Calcutta Cup matches for the first time since 1984 by beating England at BT Murrayfield.
Scotland won the Grand Slam that year, but Humphreys is hopeful that his side can dent the title hopes of the Tartan Army this Saturday at Principality Stadium.
He said: “We talked a lot about physicality on both sides of the ball, and we came up second best there it certainly wasn’t our attitude.
“There are a few things structurally we’ve looked at that will give us a little bit more momentum to help our ball carriers. But it’s a tough place to go in terms of the physicality that they bring.
“It’s a big work-on for us. We need to improve before we play Scotland.
“We can say we need to be more physical, but how are we going to do that? That’s what we’re working on.
“We don’t just want people to run harder or tackle harder, they are throwaway words. We’re on about, technically, how do we get into those positions to be able to get dominance.”
Wales are the only Tier 1 side to have a specialist breakdown coach in the form of Gareth Williams.
And Humphreys went on to say that physicality would be the focus of much of the Welsh side’s preparation for the Round 2 contest in Cardiff.
“That’s been a big focus for us this week,” he added. “It comes around to that physicality, Ireland were on the front foot carrying the ball, and it’s a lot easier to get momentum.
“We’re working hard this week in terms of trying to create that momentum, to allow us to move forward onto the ball rather than be static as we were on the weekend. It’s definitely an area we recognise as something to work on.”
