By Rob Cole

Wales fans may be licking their lips at the prospect of an emergency Scottish front row turning up at the Principality Stadium this weekend, but home hooker Ken Owens is taking nothing for granted.

His Scarlets front five might have bossed some of the best packs in Europe in the Champions Cup pool stages on their way to a home quarter-final, and Warren Gatland has rewarded the region by picking their entire front row to start for the first time in an international, but utmost respect is the starting point for any member of the ‘Front Row Union’.

“The Scots may have some front row injuries, but the players they’ve picked have got a lot of experience. Gordon Reid has been around a long time and has played some good stuff in England, Jon Welch is the same and they’ve brought Scott Lawson onto the bench as well,” said Owens.

“Stuart McInally has been outstanding for Edinburgh and captained them very well over the last few months. They’ve got injuries, but they’ve still got quality and it is something they have been working on over the last few weeks.

“It’s about us sticking to our processes and what we are trying to achieve, although the biggest thing is being disciplined and not giving away penalties. We went to Murrayfield last year with a view of being dominant, which we were for large parts of the game, but a couple of scrums went down, we brought the referee into it and then some 50-50 calls went against us.

“We pride ourselves on our scrummaging and it is something we work hard on. It has improved over the last few seasons, and it is an area we will try to exploit, but we still know how tough it is going to be to do that.”

Owens is very much the senior partner in the all-Scarlets front row with 52 caps to his name and two Tests off the bench for the British & Irish Lions last summer in New Zealand. Loose head Rob Evans has 20 caps and tight head Samson Lee has 34.

“It is a huge honour for us to be playing together as a Scarlets front row from the start. The reason that hasn’t happened before is the form of other players in the squad and that shows the depth we have in the front row at the moment,” added Owens.

“We’ve gone well as a unit with the Scarlets in the last month, but now we’ve got to deliver at the top end.”

Having been mauled at Murrayfield last year, Owens is mindful that Wales will have to work hard to put things right if they don’t want to become the first Welsh team to lose to the Scots in Cardiff since 2002.

“Scotland have been outstanding over the last year or so and had a great autumn series. They will come down extremely confident of being able to play an expansive brand of rugby,” said Owens.

“Vern Cotter did a great job in initially giving them a steely edge and huge resilience and then Gregor Townsend came in and introduced flair and unpredictability. They will come down as favourites on the form they’ve had from the autumn.

“But we’re into championship rugby now. There is a lot of pressure on results and there is a trophy on the end of it, so it will be interesting to see how they deal with that pressure as well.

“Last year we lost our line-speed a little bit in defence, which had worked really well for us in the first half and put their key players under pressure. Finn Russell didn’t get an armchair ride in the first 20-30 minutes and we managed Stuart Hogg really well and didn’t allow him to come into the game as a counter-attacker.

“We gave away too many penalties in the second half which allowed them to up the tempo of their game and introduce some quick tap and goes and bring in that unpredictability. We missed a couple of tackles and in the second half they controlled the breakdown and that’s what swung the game in their favour.

“They have gone with Hamish Watson and John Barclay again in their back row, who caused us so many problems last season, so we’ve worked a lot on the breakdown and getting there early to clean out the threat. They controlled the contact area and took their chances well, but we’ve learned from that, worked on it and will be looking to put things right on Saturday.

“Confidence is high among all the players, but you’ve to do the simple things well – win the gain line to get the offload game going have good set-piece ball, quick ball in the contact area. If you get that right it allows you to play an expansive game.

“If we can get those basics right then hopefully we can transfer the confidence of the regional game to the international stage.”

“Stuart McInally has been outstanding for Edinburgh and captained them very well over the last few months. They’ve got injuries, but they’ve still got quality and it is something they have been working on over the last few weeks.

“It’s about us sticking to our processes and what we are trying to achieve, although the biggest thing is being disciplined and not giving away penalties. We went to Murrayfield last year with a view of being dominant, which we were for large parts of the game, but a couple of scrums went down, we brought the referee into it and then some 50-50 calls went against us.

“We pride ourselves on our scrummaging and it is something we work hard on. It has improved over the last few seasons, and it is an area we will try to exploit, but we still know how tough it is going to be to do that.”

Owens is very much the senior partner in the all-Scarlets front row with 52 caps to his name and two Tests off the bench for the British & Irish Lions last summer in New Zealand. Loose head Rob Evans has 20 caps and tight head Samson Lee has 34.

“It is a huge honour for us to be playing together as a Scarlets front row from the start. The reason that hasn’t happened before is the form of other players in the squad and that shows the depth we have in the front row at the moment,” added Owens.

“We’ve gone well as a unit with the Scarlets in the last month, but now we’ve got to deliver at the top end.”

Having been mauled at Murrayfield last year, Owens is mindful that Wales will have to work hard to put things right if they don’t want to become the first Welsh team to lose to the Scots in Cardiff since 2002.

“Scotland have been outstanding over the last year or so and had a great autumn series. They will come down extremely confident of being able to play an expansive brand of rugby,” said Owens.

“Vern Cotter did a great job in initially giving them a steely edge and huge resilience and then Gregor Townsend came in and introduced flair and unpredictability. They will come down as favourites on the form they’ve had from the autumn.

“But we’re into championship rugby now. There is a lot of pressure on results and there is a trophy on the end of it, so it will be interesting to see how they deal with that pressure as well.

“Last year we lost our line-speed a little bit in defence, which had worked really well for us in the first half and put their key players under pressure. Finn Russell didn’t get an armchair ride in the first 20-30 minutes and we managed Stuart Hogg really well and didn’t allow him to come into the game as a counter-attacker.

“We gave away too many penalties in the second half which allowed them to up the tempo of their game and introduce some quick tap and goes and bring in that unpredictability. We missed a couple of tackles and in the second half they controlled the breakdown and that’s what swung the game in their favour.

“They have gone with Hamish Watson and John Barclay again in their back row, who caused us so many problems last season, so we’ve worked a lot on the breakdown and getting there early to clean out the threat. They controlled the contact area and took their chances well, but we’ve learned from that, worked on it and will be looking to put things right on Saturday.

“Confidence is high among all the players, but you’ve to do the simple things well – win the gain line to get the offload game going have good set-piece ball, quick ball in the contact area. If you get that right it allows you to play an expansive game.

“If we can get those basics right then hopefully we can transfer the confidence of the regional game to the international stage.”