Two years ago the Welsh failed to win a match in the tournament but an amazing turnaround in fortunes under Mike Ruddock saw them lift their first Grand Slam since 1978 last season while struggling Scotland had to settle for one win over Italy.

The Glasgow player insists regular success against the Wales players at club level in the Celtic League should inspire Scotland at international level.

He said: If you look at the Welsh side which won the Grand Slam this year, its pretty much the same side which got the wooden spoon and were whitewashed a couple of years before.

We know these guys and play against them week in, week out. Weve beaten them and they have beaten us as well but on paper, they are the same level of side as us.
If they have been able to do that then theres no reason why we cant.

These are guys you are getting on top of regularly so theres no reason why we cant do the same thing when we come together as a national team.

They have big forwards who have skills and that went a long way for them last year. I like to think we are capable of doing that although, at the same time, you have to stay true to the Scottish way of playing which has its benefits.

Its just that they are playing with so much confidence, but on paper we are as good if not better than them so its not too big a leap to see us doing very well in the Six Nations.''

Petries Glasgow side could strike an early blow for Scotland when they open up their Celtic League campaign against Newport Gwent Dragons at Hughenden on Friday.

However, the Warriors will have to improve quickly after a disappointing pre-season which ended with a 32-11 defeat at Newcastle in their final warm-up game.

But Petrie played down the significance of the result, saying: I have the view that its best to have a kick up the backside early in the season.

Weve had a good pre-season in terms of the amount of work that weve done but we have to be realistic, we cant just turn up and things will happen.

Every time we go out we have to be at the top of our game to get anything out of it and I hope a lot of our guys realise that from the weekend.

But its a good time to experience that now, rather than a few weeks into the Celtic League season when were at the bottom end of the table.

I know its a cliché but it was a wake-up call and its probably not a bad thing.