London (AFP) - Scotland have recalled Darcy Graham in the only change to their starting side for Saturday’s Six Nations clash at home to Wales.

The Edinburgh wing was concussed following a sickening clash of heads with his own co-captain Finn Russell during a 32-18 defeat by champions Ireland at Murrayfield on February 9 and missed the 16-15 loss away to England a fortnight ago.

Graham replaces Glasgow’s Kyle Rowe, who drops to the bench.

The 27-year-old Graham, Scotland’s second-highest try-scorer of all time, passed his head injury assessment before the England match on February 22.

But Scotland decided upon a precautionary approach to ensure he was fully recovered given the severity of his clash with Russell.

“Darcy trained well last week when we had the guys in that weren’t playing for the clubs at the weekend,” said Scotland coach Gregor Townsend after naming his side on Thursday.

“He’s had an enforced rest, rightly, but he looks like the same Darcy who was playing so well for us before he got the injury. His ability to beat players is up there with the best in the world, so he’s been a key player for us.”

- ‘Winning feeling’ -

Scotland are aiming to make it three wins in a row over Wales – who have lost a national record 15 successive Tests – for the first time in the Six Nations era.

But another loss this championship would raise fresh questions over whether Townsend, whose contract expires in April next year, remains the right man to lead Scotland into the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

The former Scotland playmaker is the country’s longest-serving head coach in the professional era, having been appointed in 2017.

Townsend, however, has been unable to improve on Scotland’s record of never finishing higher than third in the Six Nations, with their most recent title achieved in the last edition of the old Five Nations back in 1999.

But Townsend, whose side are currently fourth in the table, insisted his players would not lack motivation in the closing stages of this championship.

“Well, we’ve got two games to go,” he said. “We don’t know where that’s going to leave us at the end of the competition if we did manage to get two wins, but there’s a lot to play for.

“There’s a higher-up place on the table, but also our own performances, how we worked during the week to produce a performance that we’re proud of, that makes our supporters proud, but also to earn that winning feeling.

“We were close at Twickenham, and that fuels the motivation to do better next game.”

Scotland conclude their Six Nations away to France on March 15 and Townsend accepted travelling to Paris with a record of just one win from four games “wouldn’t be great”.

“We’ve just got to focus on how we get the victory, how we build on what we did well against England,” he said. “And we’re going to not think of anything else outside of that.”

Townsend, reflecting on Wales’ performance against Ireland, added: “They were excellent. I think defensively, they really filled the field well, they were hard to break down.

“They’ve got experienced players back in their team now that have played a lot of Test matches, and they’re playing with freedom.”