Bulloch believes the win over the Azzurri has given Matt Williams men such a shot in the arm they are now relishing the clash with the Grand Slam-chasers with real confidence.

Scotlands most-capped hooker admits the RBS 6 Nations Championship victory over Italy was a scrappy one but claims the only relevant aspect of the widely-touted Wooden Spoon decider was the result.

The Glasgow star said: That gives us a big boost for next week. Hopefully it will be a platform to build on for us.

Certainly, the boys were talking about the Wales game as soon as we got into the dressing room.

Everyone was watching the start of their match against France on TV so we are looking forward to it.

I said to everyone to have a smile on their face. It might not have been the most attractive game and they scored a try whereas we didnt but we won it, and we have not had too many of those recently.

For some boys like Chris Cusiter and Hugo Southwell it is their first Six Nations win.
Its so important that happened on Saturday, especially as we have been together as a group for a year.

Bulloch emphasised just what a weight off their shoulders the win against Italy was by revealing the tension in the camp during the build-up to the match.

The 29-year-old said: There was a bit of anxiety in training before the game and we really tried to get rid of that and make things more relaxed and positive.

In the game, because things have not been going for us for a while, you are always expecting a setback.

But we kept kicking the points and increasing our lead and got the confidence-boosting win.

Bulloch, a leading contender to fill one of the wide-open hooking berths on the Lions tour to New Zealand this summer, knows Scotland face a tough task in two weeks time though.

The 73-cap stalwart said: Wales will play a different game and are on fire at the moment. They are playing with a lot of confidence.

Obviously their backs are in form and are dangerous so we will have to be ready for them. We are looking forward to it though.