Wales suffered an opening Six Nations defeat to arch rivals England last weekend following Alun Wyn Jones’ costly first-half yellow card.
Now British Lions and Wales star fly-half Jones wants his team-mates to steer clear of further trouble – and the boot of full-back Chris Paterson.
Jones, 32, said: “Chris is a deadly kicker so we can’t afford to give away any cheap penalties in our own half.
“It’s vital for us because he is the same as England with Jonny Wilkinson.
“We have to be clever in defence and minimise the number of opportunities he gets. We can’t give silly points away as his goal kicking is top draw.”
Wales must beware as ice-cool kicker Paterson boasts an incredible 100 per cent record from his last 34 penalty goal attempts in the championship.
And Jones has hailed the quality of Scotland’s last line of defence, who will become the 11th player in Test rugby to reach a century of appearances for his country in Cardiff.
Jones added: “It’s fantastic Chris has reached 100 caps. He’s the same age as me and he’s been a brilliant player.
“He has played full-back, fly-half and on the wing for Scotland and they have been fortunate to have him.”
Scotland, who failed to score a try in their home loss to against France, aim to bolster their attacking prowess by moving Sean Lamont from the wing to inside centre.
But Jones reckons he already has the inside track on his Scarlets team-mate, having initiated the same switch at his region in October.
Jones said: “I spoke to our coach Nigel Davies and we discussed several ideas because we had a lot of injuries.
“We looked at all our options and said, ‘What is the best backline we can pick?’
“Lee Williams was doing well on the wing so we decided to switch Sean inside to centre. It worked for us.
“He hadn’t played at centre before but we threw Sean in against Brive in the Heineken Cup. He did a fantastic job.
“Sean is a top player and professional. He’s physical, runs good lines and has been a great influence and signing for the Scarlets. It will be a big challenge for us to mark and stop him.”
