DUNCAN Taylor will tomorrow attempt one of the less enviable tasks in world rugby - stopping Jamie Roberts, the Welsh centre who combines strength and speed to generate what at times appears a near-unstoppable momentum.

Fortunately for Scotland, Taylor, who has come into the team at inside centre as a replacement for the injured Matt Scott, is better equipped than most to deal with the challenge. Indeed, when it comes to defensive solidity the 26-year-old Saracens is perhaps slightly more suited to the task than Scott.

In general, however, Taylor’s role in the team will be very similar to that of the man he has replaced, particularly when it comes to forming a partnership with Mark Bennett. The Glasgow Warriors centre is the most elusive attacking back in the Scotland squad with the possible exception of Stuart Hogg, and Taylor’s primary job in offence will be to give him the ball in the extra bit of space he needs. But the new man can also use Bennett as a foil, exploiting the uncertainty created in the opposition defence by their wariness of the Warriors back.

In defence, one of Taylor’s jobs will be to assist Bennett if he is targeted by Wales - and, as one of the most slightly built members of the team, Bennett is accustomed to receiving such attention by now. Above all, however, he will have to snuff out Roberts - a man who, as a qualified doctor currently studying for an MPhil at Cambridge, must be one of history’s more cerebral battering rams.

“I played him a few weeks ago,” Taylor said yesterday after being named in Vern Cotter’s team for the Six Nations Championship match at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. “It was against Harlequins. I lasted about 20 minutes on the field and I ended up with a head knock and had to come off the pitch. It wasn’t Jamie Roberts [who gave him the head knock].

“I guess he's a big, heavy guy. He runs very hard and he runs good lines and he's an intelligent player. There are not too many 12s out there in terms of his size and his ability. I guess it’s just another challenge.”

Given that no-one was dropped from the team that lost to England, with Scott’s enforced omission being the only change made by Cotter, Taylor has spent most of the week presuming he would be on the bench against Wales. But he insisted that, as always, he had prepared as if he were going to be in the team, and would therefore be ready tomorrow.

“I was aware yesterday that Matt had hurt himself, so it was just a case of seeing how he woke up this morning and seeing whether he was going to make it or not. I had an awareness of it yesterday and I just found out this morning that he wasn't going to make it.

“You prepare for that [playing] anyway, because, you never know, off the bench you could be on after a minute, you could be on after half an hour. You never know when you’re going to be on. You have to prepare as if you’re starting every week if you’re on the bench.”

First capped in 2013, Taylor came off the bench in Scotland’s last game in Wales, the 51-3 defeat. “It wasn’t the best day at the office for us,” he said euphemistically.

He also came on during last week’s loss to England - a match which, while still not great in terms of Scotland’s performance, at least offered the team a tantalising glimpse of how successful they might be if they cut out unforced errors and ensure they take chances when they arise.

“Last weekend we weren't just quite clinical enough,” he said of that match, which gave him his 13th cap. “We dropped a few balls in the final third, and when we had the chance to maybe score a few phases down the line we coughed the ball up.

“I think it’s just about keeping hold of the ball and making sure we convert these opportunities when we’re down in the final third. All the boys are capable of doing it.

“As a team we just need to come together and make sure we keep hold of the ball in those parts of the pitch. We all know that we’re a good side, and we all know that we’re capable of winning these games. We have that confidence.”

While the reliance on a key midfield runner in Roberts will be one way in which Wales’ strategy will differ from that of England, Scotland will have a very similar game plan to the one they tried to employ then. Unsurprisingly, the principal element of that plan is a resolution to take their chances, as Taylor emphasised.

“I think last week we just weren't clinical enough. So this week in that final third we want to be more clinical and come away with points down there.”