Dragons back row Taine Basham admits Wales must bring a physical edge to the home Six Nations clash with Scotland if they are to record a first win in the tournament this campaign.
Basham - who recently signed a new long-term deal with Dragons - underlined his burgeoning reputation with an outstanding display against Ireland, leading his team's statistics chart in terms of metres made (93), tackles (22) and carries (15).
However, Wayne Pivac's side started the defence of the tournament with an emphatic 29-7 defeat in Dublin and Basham knows levels must be raised back in Cardiff.
“Ireland brought a good physical edge to the game, and, in my opinion, we didn’t match that in the first 10 minutes,” said the Dragons Academy product.
“We grew into the game with our physicality. In the second 20 minutes of the first half, when we took the ball in motion, you could see we were breaking them down.
“But when we look back on the game, we’ll realise that physically we didn’t turn up. We have to turn up on Saturday, especially in front of a home crowd.”
Basham’s interception of a pass off the floor by Tadhg Beirne enabled him to sprint to the posts for a try that Callum Sheedy converted in the 75th minute.
But it was a rare bright spot for Wales and Basham knows any repeat will not be good enough.
“We know the result wasn’t acceptable. The boys are going to be disappointed about the result and the way we performed, especially in the first 10 minutes,” said the 22-year-old.
“For me, it is all about mindset, confidence in what we can do in defence and attack. It’s about coming off the line and hitting someone hard.
“We need more of that – getting off the line in defence and just being really physical. There will be no doubt that we will bring that next weekend, there is definitely going to be an edge.
“My team-mates expect me to be chucking my body about, and so do I. It is what I must do for the team, so I can be happy with that,” he added.
“Every time you get an opportunity in this shirt you just have to play your own game and put your own stamp on it.”
