Last February a lacklustre Wales opened with a 17-30 defeat to England at Twickenham before recording a thrilling last-gasp 31-24 triumph over Scotland at the Millennium Stadium.

In an action-packed encounter 13-man Scotland were pegged back level by a 79th minute Stephen Jones penalty and - after opting not to the kick the ball out from the re-start - were defeated when Shane Williams dived under the posts.

Despite coming back from the dead in Cardiff, Wales' task is arguably tougher this year as they travel to Murrayfield without a win in their last eight Tests to face a Scotland side rejuvenated by Andy Robinson.

The Grand Slam champions of 2008 and 2005 have triumphed just three times at the home of Scottish rugby since 1985 and have gambled on playing Perpignan-bound James Hook at fly-half in a bid to get their backline moving.

Hook's switch from full-back means Stephen Jones, second only to Neil Jenkins on the list of leading Welsh points scorers, is forced to make do with a seat on the replacements' bench.

Ryan Jones, stripped of the captaincy by under-pressure boss Gatland following his role in Wales' chastening autumn draw with Fiji, returns in place of injured No.8 Andy Powell.

Lee Byrne takes the space vacated by Hook at full-back and Morgan Stoddart retains his place on the wing despite fracturing a bone in his hand during his try-scoring display against England.

"We are in a professional sport and it is about performing and getting results," said Gatland.

"Are we under pressure? Hell, yeah. My job is to keep that pressure off the players.

"If I lose their confidence and that of the vast majority of the Welsh rugby public, it will be time to get on my bike and go. It is just incredibly frustrating at the moment because we are so close."

While last season's clash was undoubtedly one of the great Six Nations games, thrills and spills are nothing new to matches between Scotland and Wales.

The last six championship games between the two have seen a total of 283 points and 28 tries with Wales losing just once and winning the last three on the spin.

Scotland opened their own campaign with a 34-21 defeat to France but Andy Robinson saw enough to name an unchanged team for the visit of Wales.

"We were disappointed as players and management that we did not start the Championship with a win against France," said Robinson.

"We are determined to put that right with an improved performance against Wales."