Jamie Ritchie is penalised at the game's first lineout, and Wales fly-half Gareth Anscombe will kick at goal.

Referee Andrea Piardi peeps his whistle and Wales centre Ben Thomas gets us under way on this lovely early spring afternoon.

Darcy Graham's Scotland return throws up an interesting statistic.

Scotland wingers Duhan van der Merwe and Graham have notched more Test tries (61) between them than the entire Welsh 23 combined (58).

Image source, SNS

Flower of Scotland follows Land of our Fathers at a packed-out Murrayfield.

Kick-off isn't far away.

Gareth Griffiths
BBC Sport Wales at Murrayfield

There are pockets of red around Murrayfield today to show Welsh fans will continue to travel to support their team despite the terrible run of results.

Can they be rewarded with an elusive victory today? Matt Sherratt and his side will hope so.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Wales interim head coach Matt Sherratt tells BBC One: "The performance against Ireland was very good, if we can put that on the pitch for greater periods we'll have a chance of beating any team.

"That was the message to the team, to not overthink it."

On naming an unchanged Wales side, the first time in 66 tests since 2019 that this was the case, he adds: "It wouldn't have been the right decision to change it so just letting those combinations go again and seeing if they can back up a decent performance against Ireland."

Scotland co-captain Rory Darge tells BBC One: "We came in together looking forward to this week and building towards the performance again, we're looking forward to today.

"[Wales] are playing with a bit of belief, they started to play a bit more so we know we're going to be up against it today but that's usually the case in Six Nations matches."

One what Scotland need to improve on this afternoon, he adds: "Once we're in that 22, going up a gear".

Image source, Getty Images

In today's other Six Nations game, France have taken control of the competition with a 42-27 win against Ireland in Dublin.

Despite losing captain Antoine Dupont to injury after 30 minutes, France scored three second-half tries to move two points clear of Ireland at the top and avenge last year's defeat in Marseille.

Tournament top scorer Louis Bielle-Biarrey crossed twice for Les Bleus while Paul Boudehent, Oscar Jegou and Damian Penaud all scored in a stunning bonus-point triumph.

Dan Sheehan's early second-half try put Ireland - who temporarily lost Joe McCarthy and Calvin Nash to yellow cards in either half - 13-8 up but France's response was emphatic as they put themselves in pole position before hosting Scotland in their final game.

Ireland, however, must beat Italy in Rome next week and hope other results go their way as they chase an unprecedented third straight Six Nations title.

Head-to-head

• Scotland are aiming to record three straight wins against Wales for the first time since the 1989-1991 Five Nations.

• The Welsh have won 13 of their last 17 Six Nations Tests against the Scots.

Scotland

• Finn Russell missed three conversions against England and his kicking success for this tournament stands at just 38% (three of eight kicks made), last year it was 96% (22 of 23).

• Rory Darge is the only player to attend 100 or more attacking rucks (112) in this Six Nations.

• Blair Kinghorn has made the most carries (58) and the most metres gained (371) after three rounds.

Wales

• The Welsh are aiming to avoid joining Italy as the only tier one team to have lost 16 successive Test matches in the professional era.

• Their tally of 33 defenders beaten against Ireland was their most ever in a Six Nations match and one more than they managed in their opening two games combined.

• Jac Morgan has the most post-contact metres (119) of any forward in the Championship.

Jonathan Davies
Former Wales international on BBC One

If Scotland get the right blend and get the passes sticking, it's going to be a long afternoon for Wales.

They've got to improve their performance again.

If we stay in the game, the pressure will then build on Scotland the longer the game goes on.

Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer

Scotland are ranked number one in the tournament for fewest tries conceded, fewest tackles missed and most ball carries, number two for metres gained, line breaks, breakdown steals and tries scored.

And yet they sit fourth in the table and are already out of contention for the big prize.

Still we hear the mumbo-jumbo from former players in other places about Scotland supposedly talking themselves up. During the week, the great Welsh and Lions scrum-half Mike Phillips joined the list of people who don't understand Scottish rugby and the fatalism that has run through it for close to a quarter of a century.

Phillips said the Scots have been predicting Six Nations glory for 20 years, a comment so remarkable that people here will remember it in the way they remember where they were when they heard Elvis had died.

(Younger readers: swap Taylor Swift for Elvis and replace 'died' with 'releasing a new album' or some such revelation).

None of this phony war stuff in the media is going to permeate Scotland's bubble in any meaningful way. They know what's at stake here - not a championship tilt, but credibility and, possibly, the future of Gregor Townsend.

Read more from Tom English.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Scotland co-captain Finn Russell says he pays little attention to criticism directed at him, and has moved on quickly from his crucial missed kick against England in the Six Nations at Twickenham two weeks ago.

Russell had a chance to effectively win the game by converting Duhan van der Merwe's 79th-minute try, but his touchline effort slid past the post and England held on for a 16-15 victory.

The Bath fly-half was central to an impressive Scotland attacking display that produced three stunning tries, but some fans and pundits have instead focused on his wayward display from the tee that saw him miss all three attempts at goal.

And he said: "I think that's just part of the job, isn't it?

"Had I got that kick, it would have been a different story. But missing it, that's part of it and that's how it goes. I'm not too stressed about what's been said about my game.

"As long as I'm happy with it myself, that's all that matters. I go back to my family and friends and they're the ones that either pick me up or put me down either way, depending on how it goes.

"My dad was saying, 'unlucky with the kick, but you played really well overall'. For me, that means more than what others say."

Wales might have lost against Ireland two weeks ago, their 15th straight Test defeat, but the performance has sparked hope of a brighter future.

Former Wales captain Sam Warburton explains how interim coach Matt Sherratt inspired a "remarkable turnaround".

Gareth Griffiths
BBC Sport Wales

Wales have not won a Test match since they defeated Georgia in Nantes in October 2023 at the World Cup, 16 games ago.

More than 500 days have passed but there remains hope - stemming from the considerable improvement under interim head coach Matt Sherratt against title favourites Ireland two weeks ago.

Wales have been revitalised under Sherratt after giving the Grand Slam chasing tournament favourites a monumental fright before losing 27-18.

The hosts produced their best performance for almost 18 months and Sherratt and his players will be eager to demonstrate the Ireland game was not a one-off.

Sherratt's side began life after Warren Gatland in a way few people thought possible as long-suffering supporters finally had something to shout about.

There was an ambition, creativity and freshness about Wales' play, whereas for much of the 14-Test run before it, desolation and despair were the overriding emotions.

Image source, Getty Images

Andrew Cotter
Commentator on BBC One

Defeats don't often lift a nation, but such was Wales' performance against Ireland that there is hope at last and coach Matt Sherratt has gone for the same starting 15 - something which hasn't been done by a Welsh coach since 2019.

Above all he'll be glad that stand-off Gareth Anscombe is clear to play after his HIA during the Ireland game.

The only change for the home side is the return of Darcy Graham on the wing, in what is once again a line-up full of attacking threat, but Scotland fans desperately want victories rather than entertainment.

One question is whether Wales can expose Scotland's relative lack of power as others have been able to do. Last time Wales came to Murrayfield it ended in a record Scottish victory - expect it to be far closer this time.

Interim head coach Matt Sherratt has named Wales' first unchanged team since the 2019 World Cup as he retains the same XV that narrowly lost to Ireland.

Dewi Lake comes on to the bench having recovered from bicep surgery and will hope to make his first Six Nations appearance since 2022. Another front row change among the replacements sees prop Keiron Assiratti replace Henry Thomas.

Who got their nickname from Donald Trump? And who would take down a camel with their bare hands? Scotland co-captain Rory Darge reveals all about his team-mates.

Darcy Graham returns to the Scotland starting line-up in the only change to the side that lost in a dramatic finale to England two weeks ago.

The Edinburgh wing missed the match at Twickenham after being concussed during the defeat by Ireland in the second match of the tournament.

He replaces Glasgow Warriors' Kyle Rowe, who drops to the bench.

Prop Rory Sutherland has recovered from the back spasm that forced him out before kick-off against England to take his place amongst the replacements. Centre Huw Jones came off with a tight Achilles at Twickenham but is also fit.

Image source, SNS

Scotland: 15-Kinghorn; 14-Graham, 13-Jones, 12-Jordan, 11-Van der Merwe; 10- Russell (co-capt), 9-White; 1-Schoeman, 2-Cherry, 3-Z. Fagerson, 4-Gray; 5-Gilchrist, 6-Ritchie, 7-Darge (co-capt), 8-Dempsey.

Replacements: 16-Ashman, 17-Sutherland, 18-Hurd, 19-Brown, 20-M Fagerson, 21-Horne, 22-McDowall, 23-Rowe

Wales: 15-Murray, 14- Rogers, 13-Llewellyn, 12-B Thomas, 11-Mee; 10-Anscombe, 9-T Williams; 1-N Smith, 2-Dee, 3-John, 4-Rowlands, 5-Jenkins, 6-Morgan (capt), 7-Reffell, 8-Faletau.

Replacements: 16-D Lake, 17-G Thomas, 18-K Assiratti, 19-Teddy Williams, 20-Wainwright, 21- R Williams, 22-J Evans, 23-Roberts.