Wales shatters Scotland dreams
Even for those who steadfastly believed Wales would win, the 34-7 margin was well beyond their wildest expectations.
The first half was very much a tale of taking your chances – Wales holding a 14-0 lead after a great intercept from Gareth Davies and Leigh Halfpenny got his first try in 39 international games – after Cory Hill delayed a beautiful pass out wide to the right, creating the gap for him to crash over.
Two Halfpenny penalties inside the opening 10 minutes of the second half effectively put the match beyond Scotland's reach.
There were two more tries – a second by Halfpenny and the bonus-point score by Steff Evans – as Wales rubbed salt into the festering Scottish wounds.
There was a late consolation score by Pete Horne, but the humiliation had been completed well before the end.
It was Welsh coach Warren Gatland's 50th win in charge of his adopted country.
The New Zealander selected 10 Scarlets players hoping they could transfer their regional form on to the international stage and they delivered in stunning fashion with all 34 of the home points coming from men from the Llanelli-based team.
Two tries from Leigh Halfpenny, who contributed 24 points, and efforts from Gareth Davies and electric wing Steffan Evans sent Scotland crashing back down to earth.
The visitors could only muster a Peter Horne try and a Finn Russell conversion.
The hosts made two nervy errors in the first five minutes with Davies kicking out on the full and then missing a tackle on Jonny Gray who surged forward.
But the home scrumhalf quickly made amends for his earlier errors by intercepting an Ali Price pass and showing blistering pace to run in from 60 metres out. Halfpenny converted.
Wales came close when man of the match Aaron Shingler made a blistering break from his own half before offloading to Dragons lock Cory Hill, who in turn passed to Rob Evans.
The Scarlets prop then passed back inside to Alun Wyn Jones only for Steffan Evans to spill the ball forward with the line at his mercy.
With Scotland pinned in their own 22, the ball was then spun wide to Hadleigh Parkes who put Halfpenny over for his first Test try in five years.
But Gregor Townsend's men posed their own threats with Russell beating Scott Williams to race away from his own 22. He fed Price, before debutant Wales wing Josh Adams came from nowhere to smash him and put an end to the attack.
This Six Nations opener at times resembled a Super Rugby encounter rather than a full-blown Test match, such was the desire of both sides to play from deep with the hosts turning around 14-0 at the break.
Gatland's side began the second half as they had finished the first, willing to take risks and attack from anywhere. Wales’ first points of the second half came after Scotland’s Scarlets captain John Barclay infringed at the breakdown giving Halfpenny the opportunity to extend the home lead.
The Scarlets man soon nailed another penalty to make it 20-0 and with that, the game was over.
By now Wales were totally dominant and came close to putting the game to bed when Wyn Jones was held up over the line.
But they did not have to wait long to cross the whitewash for the third time as Halfpenny raced over after Steffan Evans beautifully flicked the ball on to his regional team-mate.
Wales came mightily close to claiming the bonus point when Jones was held up over the line for the second time in the space of 10 minutes after receiving a pass from substitute Gareth Anscombe.
Scarlets wing Steffan Evans secured the hosts a bonus-point try with seven minutes remaining with a blistering finish in the corner.
Halfpenny completed his perfect day with the boot and although Horne grabbed a consolation try in the closing stages, the hosts were resounding winners.
The scorers:
For Wales:
Tries: G Davies, Halfpenny 2, Evans
Cons: Halfpenny 4
Pens: Halfpenny 2
For Scotland:
Try: Horne
Con: Russell
Teams:
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans.
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Owen Watkin.
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (captain), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Sean Maitland.
Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO: David Grashoff (England)
@rugby365com & AFP
