Scotland break Welsh hearts in Cardiff thriller
MATCH REPORT: Scotland continued their bid for the Six Nations Triple Crown as they came from behind to beat Wales 26-23 in a thrilling game at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
After struggling for most of the game to match the heights of Murrayfield a week ago, when they destroyed England, the Scots dragged themselves back into the game in the second half with George Turner’s decisive try in the 75th minute putting them ahead for the first time in the game.
Finn Russell converted and although he missed a penalty with the last kick of the game, Scotland closed out a nail-biting win.
It was a heartbreaking finish for the Welsh, who came into the match as massive underdogs having already been smashed by both England and France and looking for their first Six Nations win in three years.
Scotland will now try to complete their first Triple Crown since 1990 when they go to Dublin to face Ireland in the final round of the tournament.
They also remain in contention to win the Six Nations for the first time since Italy joined the old Five Nations in 2000, but would likely have to beat France as well as Ireland in their final two games to do so.
With the roof closed at the Principality, Wales fed off the passion of the crowd and even after losing centre Joe Hawkins to a yellow card after five minutes for a dangerous tackle on Gregor Brown, they continued to take the game to the Scots.
First, they defended superbly to defy Kyle Steyn and then, after Tomos Williams’s counter-attack took them up to the Scottish line, prop Rhys Carre powered over.
Scotland hit back swiftly, though, with the recalled Blair Kinghorn throwing a long pass for Steyn to go over in the right-hand corner.
Wales had shown a soft centre over the first two weekends but this time they proved a lot tougher.
Sam Costelow, taking over the flyhalf jersey from Dan Edwards for this game and playing his first match for Wales since a defeat by Japan at Kitakyushu last July, moved them downfield with a superb kick to the Scotland 22.
Fightback
The forwards went through the phases to edge them closer to the line before the ball was looped wide to the left wing for the impressive Josh Adams to touch down.
Another fierce attack on the half-hour yielded another three points as Costelow popped over the penalty to give the Welsh a 17-5 lead at the break.
The Scarlets flyhalf extended the lead with another penalty early in the second half to open up a 15-point lead but Scotland responded with two tries in three minutes.
A sustained 26-phase attack culminated in Russell slicing through to touch down close to the posts, adding the conversion.
That was followed by a Welsh penalty from Jarrod Evans, on for the hobbling Costelow, who had been controlling the game beautifully.
Steve Tandy’s side, however, were still jogging back into position when Scotland kicked off, Russell’s drop-kick into the 22 bouncing back into the hands of Darcy Graham who plunged over the line for the score with some Welsh players not even looking the right way.
Russell’s conversion narrowed the gap to just four points.
As the game went on, so Scotland began to dominate possession. They turned down several chances to kick penalties, opting each time for the corner.
Five minutes from time, they controlled a five-metre line-out and Turner touched down. Russell converted and Scotland held on for the win.
Man of the match: Aaron Wainwright was a livewire for Wales, especially in the tight exchanges. Rory Darge was immense for Scotland and nearly got our award. However, it goes to Finn Russell, who sparked the comeback with a try before catching Wales off guard with a quick restart later in the second half, which led to Darcy Graham’s try.
The scorers:
For Wales:
Tries: Carre, Adams
Cons: Costelow 2
Pens: Costelow 2, Evans
For Scotland:
Tries: Steyn, Russell, Graham, Turner
Cons: Russell 3
Yellow card: Joe Hawkins (Wales, 4′ – foul play, high tackle)
Teams:
Wales: 15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 13 Eddie James, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Alex Mann, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Rhys Carre.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 James Botham, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Blair Murray.
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (captain), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Nathan McBeth.
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 George Horne, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Darcy Graham.
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson (England), Adam Leal (England)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)
