Allan Dell may have been part of a side that has under-performed in the Six Nations Championship so far, but the Scotland prop has warned in-form Wales that over-confidence could be their downfall in Edinburgh this weekend.

The South African-born 26-year-old acknowledged that a national record winning run of 12 successive matches speaks to how well Wales have been playing, but he reckons that the struggling home team can spring a surprise if they can perform to their best.

“Their confidence is very high… and (Wales head coach) Gatland’s going about saying their team has forgotten how to lose and all that, so they’re going to be full of confidence,” Dell observed.

“They’ve got a gameplan that has been working for them, clearly, but the biggest thing is that we need to focus on ourselves and get our own gameplan right. In the last two games we haven’t really done that and we’ve lost, so we’re not worried about the prospect of them winning a Grand Slam or us trying to stop them, we’re just going to focus on ourselves and getting our game flowing again so we can get our confidence on the front foot again.

“They are a good side, they’ve shown it, but the problem is that if they take us lightly, especially with us having lost two games in a row, with the way we lost in France being so disappointing, they’ll obviously be on a high. So, if they come in thinking about the Grand Slam and thinking about how we played in France and come in expecting it to be easy, then we can get a good run on them, but Gatland will be pumping them up, he’ll be revving them up saying how physical it’s going to be, about how they need to come to Murrayfield to make a statement. So, it’s up to us to focus on our game and make sure we get our things right. We don’t need to worry about them.”

Perhaps not, but the impression given in the course of this championship and previously is that whereas Scotland are seeking to weave intricate, stylish attacking patterns, the championship leaders are at the top of the table because they keep it simple, playing pressure rugby based on disciplined defence and tactical nous.

Dell insists, however, that it is not a case of the Scots being sent out with minds cluttered by over-complication, but that it has merely been a case of them failing to maintain full focus on the straightforward tasks they have been asked to carry out.

“We don’t have a point to prove, we know how good we are. We know when we play and get things right, when we concentrate, that we can play good rugby,” he insisted.

“It’s about backing that up, so we should look out there and get back on that run again. We’ve had such good runs and then we get blips in concentration and stuff up and then it’s panic stations all over. In the camp we’re confident. We know how we want to play, we just didn’t do it last week. The French played well. We just need to focus on ourselves, get our gameplan going and make sure we do the right things at the right times. We need to be on it mentally as well.

“Our gameplan is not complicated. Rugby is a simple sport. It’s just about the decisions in the heat of the battle. If everyone’s on it and you’re concentrating then it’s a simple gameplan, but it’s when guys aren’t on the same page or miscommunications are happening, when you’re in a full stadium and the pressure comes on then guys can make mistakes. We’ve all been there. It is a simple gameplan but delivering it is not.”

Scotland’s top tackler in Paris, Dell looks to have established himself in the team in the course of this campaign, starting every match, having also started three of the four autumn Tests, however in playing down his individual effort, he reckoned that was simply down to the way the game ran

“I was in the right place at the right time I guess,” he said.

“Those stats you don’t really worry about. It’s all about making sure you can help the guy next to you and the team. This next weekend someone else might be making 25 tackles and I might be making five or 56. It depends on what type of game it is. In Paris we were tackling quite a lot, especially around the fringes.”

He managed to get to as many of those places as he did at least partly as a result of being one of the most mobile prop forwards in the game, but he has also done a solid job in a scrummage that is heavily reliant on his club, Edinburgh. That said, the one Test that Dell did not start this season was against South Africa when Gordon Reid was brought in as what looked like a specific ploy to deal with the Springbok scrummage. With the power quotient set to be upped in the championship’s final fortnight, then, the incumbent could be forgiven for seeing this week’s recall from the English second tier of the London Irish veteran as a threat.

Instead, though, he welcomes the injection of energy that has been provided by the newcomers to the squad.

“The guys who are coming back in are fresh faces coming into the camp,” said Dell.

“There’s that good energy and the guys are hungry for game time and to prove a point. That’s just revs everyone up so we’re all on edge and raring to go. There’s a real excitement and them coming in.Fresh faces are exciting because you’ve got guys coming in who are on the fringes and ready to get their opportunity and they have that hunger. You know how it is when young boys are chomping at the bit to get stuck in, that just makes the more experienced guys keen because they bring an energy.

“Everyone needs to stick to our gameplan so that we can get back on track and give some confidence to the fans because I think guys are starting to wonder if the gameplan is too complicated or asking if we’re good enough to play that way. We know how we can play, people know how we can play, people just forget, you know how it is.”