'We needed to beat their bench' - Scotland lock Williamson on importance of replacements making impact
The Glasgow Warriors’ lock played an important role in securing Scotland’s 31-20 win over England despite missing out on the starting XV.
The importance of the eight players selected as replacements in a 23 man squad has never been more important that is is now in modern test rugby.
International coaches have been going to their bench earlier and earlier to try and impact matches. Not only that, but increasingly the player split between forwards and backs is moving towards heavily favouring the bigger men with the likes of South Africa often utilising seven replacement forwards and just one ‘utility’ back to cover multiple positions.
The importance of making an impact off the bench was clear in the mind of the Scotland players on Saturday as they hosted England at Murrayfield. Despite leading in the match the home team were second best at scrum time until the introduction of the replacement forwards saw a gradual shift in their favour.
‘We spoke about the bench being more impactful’ says Scotland lock Max Williamson
Glasgow Warriors’ lock Max Williamson earned his 11th cap for Scotland from the bench at the weekend. The 23-year old described after the match about how he and the other players wearing numbers 16 to 23 knew their job was to come on and be better than their counterparts amongst the English substitutes.
He said: “We spoke about the bench being more impactful. We knew they'd gone 6-2 so we needed to beat their bench essentially.
“The scrum, the maul, the line-out, those are all ways that we can beat them. I think the first one didn't go our way but after that point I thought the scrum performance specifically, we definitely had the edge.
“Maybe because of the first half we weren't rewarded as much as we maybe could have been. For me, it was just get down and push as hard as I can behind Elliot (Millar Mills), who's doing a great job in front of me."
Williamson, who is one of a number of Scotland players who have been impressing with club side Glasgow Warriors this season, broke into the senior national team set up in 2024 having previously represented his country at youth level. Injury kept him out of the squad for a time but he says he is now back and getting back to his best.
"I definitely think I'm back to where I was before. I'm more experienced now as well, which will definitely take into those games.
“I still want to go a level ahead or much further ahead than where I was before. That's my plan but I do think I'm certainly getting back to where I feel like I was before.”
Focus now turns to ‘excellent side’ Wales for Williamson and Scotland
With their 2026 Six Nations campaign now up and running the focus shifts from their Calcutta Cup win to the next fixture which comes this weekend as they travel to Cardiff to face Wales. It is not traditionally a venue where the Scots have had a lot of success but, with the Welsh side struggling for momentum at the moment, the visitors will begin the match as favourites and have to cope with the expectation of getting the win.
“Wales are an excellent side,” said Williamson. “It's a new game and we've got a full week of prep now that we're going to go straight into. That's what we're focused on now.
“Every week is a new test week, especially in Six Nations. We've got to fully focus on the here and now and not dwell on the past or too much in the future.
“If you just focus on what's exactly in front of you, I feel like that's the best way to manage that mindset."