Scott Cummings wary of history repeating itself against Wales

Scott Cummings admitted Scotland must prove in Wales this weekend that they have the mentality to back up Saturday’s Calcutta Cup triumph.

The Scots have had to contend with accusations that they continually raise their game for showdowns with England and then fall flat against other Guinness Six Nations rivals.

After last weekend’s 31-20 victory at Murrayfield, Scotland have defeated England six times in nine meetings since Gregor Townsend took charge in 2017.

After four of their last five wins over the Auld Enemy, however, they have gone on to lose their next match – something they are intent on avoiding in Cardiff.

“We know that we can push on, we believe we can push on, the weekend was just a start for us,” said second-rower Cummings, speaking from the Scots’ warm-weather training camp in Spain. “Now we need to back it up.

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Six Nations

Wales

23 - 26

Full-time

Scotland

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“We’ve beaten England before, we’ve done this before in the Six Nations quite a few times and we probably haven’t backed it up after that, so that’s definitely a big focus for us.

“Obviously when you get that big home game against England, coming off a frustrating loss in Italy, it’s easy to get that hype.

“It’s up to us as a squad to come together and create our own energy. We chatted last week around needing our best performance and we need to continue that on this week.

“We need to go in with that same mindset, win every 50-50 and really put our game on and implant our game on Wales this weekend.”

Scotland were under intense pressure last week on the back of a dismal opening-weekend defeat away to Italy.

Cummings said the Scots will keep what happened in Rome in their minds in the lead-up to Cardiff because they “can’t let the performance dip to that point again”.

The lock insisted they must gear up for struggling Wales with the same intensity and focus that brought such a positive display against a previously buoyant England.

“I want the heat on us,” Cummings said, when asked if there was less pressure on his side after their exploits last weekend.

“We might be going in as a strong, confident team but we need to view every single moment as the most important moment of the match.

“If we don’t, I don’t think we’ll get the win out of it. I don’t think the pressure’s off us. I like to think in international rugby, the pressure’s always on you to perform well.

“For us, it’s going to be a massive game. We’re definitely not resting on the weekend being our finished performance.

“Wales are a team that’s obviously hurting, like we were last week. That often brings the best out in a team so we’re expecting a massive fight from them.”

Meanwhile, Perpignan have revealed that back-rower Jamie Ritchie – who withdrew from the Scotland squad earlier this week alongside Jack Dempsey and Jamie Dobie – is facing “approximately two months” on the sidelines after suffering a break in the upper part of the shinbone.