But the former scrum half says having such a strong squad from which to choose only underlines the quality of player available to him for the tournament.
George North is Wales’ only change for the trip to Edinburgh, with Ross Moriarty keeping his place at No 8 following an outstanding individual display against England last time out. It means Taulupe Faletau has to make do with a place on the bench, where he is joined by Luke Charteris.
“It was a welcome headache, we were picking from strength,” Howley said. “Ross was outstanding against England and deserves to start and as I said in the first week, when you are leaving Thomas Young out to go back to Wasps it shows the strength and depth we’ve got.
“The back row is one of Scotland’s strengths and we feel this is the right back row to start the game. It puts pressure on Taulupe, bhat’s good pressure and he will become a better player. It’s a 23-man squad and to name a strong bench for Murrayfield is key.
“We were disappointed with the impact of our bench against England. It’s an area that we have talked about and we are looking for a better impact this week.”
Wales must defeat Scotland to have any chance of this year’s title. But their impressive recent record against the men in blue – they haven’t lost to them since 2007 – is cause for comfort.
“This week has been all about us and focusing on what we need to do,” Howley said. “The contact area will be vital and we feel that the back row will have a huge influence.
“In John Barclay they have a player who puts pressure on at the contact area and that will be vital in terms of the speed of ball. We want to play, but I am sure the weather will have an impact.”
Scotland have been hit by injuries to captain Greig Laidlaw and No 8 Josh Strauss. It means Scarlets loose forward Barclay skippers them against a number of players he knows all too well.
Barclay’s opposition leader will be Alun Wyn Jones, who is aware of the threat Vern Cotter’s men pose. In Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell and Tommy Seymour, Scotland have backs pushing for Lions selection and that’s without mentioning star brothers Richie and Jonny Gray at lock.
“It’s a different Scottish team to the one we’ve seen before,” said Jones. “We’re very focused on the squad we have and what we need to do.
“We have to expect the unexpected, particularly from a team which is on a high. It’s very easy to overthink these things, but we have to be very cautious.
“We’ve seen the willingness Scotland have to use the ball and that, married with some of the funny things they’ve displayed from the set-piece, means we have to be on our guard.”
