But this Saturday Wayne Pivac’s side will face a Scotland side riding the crest of a wave following their monumental victory over England at Twickenham in round one.
Wales also began the 2021 Championship with an all important victory as they squeezed past Ireland at the Principality Stadium.
While confidence is high in the Wales camp, they have been forced to cope with a number of injuries to key players.
Star No 8 Taulupe Faletau insists Wales can cope with any disruption thrown their way, but has told his team-mates to beware the power of the Scotland pack.
“I think everybody has a responsibility to know their roles and it makes coming into the squad seamless so on that side of things we are very comfortable with where everybody is,” said Faletau.
“There have been a fair few injuries from the weekend, but fortunately we’ve got plenty of cover here with a few boys coming into the squad. We are hopefully set for the weekend.
“Scotland went really well against England and they’ll be looking to build on that momentum.
“They’ve got a lot of quality in their team and on their day they can be that good as they showed against England.
“Watching them against England they were pretty dominant upfront and that’s where we will have to match them. The physical battle will be key on the weekend.”
Willis Halaholo arrives in a snowy Edinburgh on Friday
Scotland went really well against England and they’ll be looking to build on that momentum.
Pivac has made five changes to his starting XV with Aaron Wainwright replacing the injured Josh Navidi at blindside flanker, while behind the scrum Gareth Davies, Nick Tompkins, Owen Watkin and Liam Williams are all selected.
There are three changes among the replacements with Cardiff Blues flanker James Botham and Scarlets scrum-half Kieran Hardy set for their Six Nations debuts.
It will be a special day for Cardiff Blues centre Willis Halaholo who is likely to win his first cap for Wales.
When asked whether he thought Halaholo could replicate his regional form on the international stage Faletau said: “I’d like to think so definitely.
“It’s awesome to see him in the squad. We’ve got similar backgrounds.
“He’s been going well for Cardiff Blues for a number of years so I’m looking forward to watching him go if he comes on. He’s one of those players with X Factor and we’ll be looking for that from him.
“I guess once you are out there warming up and into the game you’ll be OK. We’ll have to chuck a few more layers on.
“The Welsh public will want us to win and our group are confident in what we’ve got here.”
You can keep in touch with both camps as we head for round two of the Guinness Six Nations for the Scotland v Wales clash on Saturday – we’ve got interviews, videos and social posts covered right here.
