Scotland at last made it two wins out of two from the start of a Six Nations as they calmly disposed of a ragged Wales side 35-7.
George Turner, Kyle Steyn with two, Blair Kinghorn and Matt Fagerson got the five tries that gave Gregor Townsend’s side another bonus-point win to add to the one they earned against England a week earlier.
There were hiccups along the way, especially in the first half when Turner was sent to the sin bin. Wales looked dangerous then, but, with Finn Russell in commanding form, Scotland soon regained control early in the second half. The win equalled the most points the Scots have scored against Wales, and puts them on ten points, behind Ireland at the top of the Championship table only on points for and against. The tournament now has a week off before Scotland visit France in round three.
Scotland created the first real scoring chance out of nothing when Stuart Hogg broke from deep. After the full-back was tackled to the deck, Russell sent a kick to the corner which was tapped back to Jamie Ritchie, but the captain was halted short of the line. Wales had already offended, however, and Russell opened the scoring with the penalty from in front of the posts. Hogg soon went off with a head injury and was replaced by Kinghorn. But the enforced change did not throw the Scots off their stride, and Russell doubled their lead with a second penalty after nearly quarter of an hour.
Welsh 10 Dan Biggar had a chance to open the scoring for his side with a penalty from 40 metres out and in front of the posts, but his kick was just wide of the posts. Hogg’s early break had been the closest the game had got to a try, but that changed after half an hour. Steyn was tackled into touch by Dyer on the right when a score looked on, but advantage was being played and we came back for a penalty on the left.
It went to touch, and George Turner finished off from the lineout maul. Russell converted to make it 13-0. Scotland lost the try-scorer to the sin bin when he put in a high tackle on George North. It took no time for the visitors to make the extra man tell, and they opened their account when captain Ken Owens finished off from a maul. Biggar converted and it was 13-7.
There was still time left in the first half for the Welsh to score again, but they blew their chance of a second try before the break when Dyer fumbled a pass with the line at his mercy. Wales were back on the attack in the opening minutes of the second half, but they failed to score again before Turner returned. A brilliant kick by Russell shifted the momentum and gave Scotland a great attacking platform, but from the lineout Turner lost the ball just short of the line.
Then Duhan van der Merwe set off on a powerful run upfield only for the Welsh defence to drag him down well short. Scotland next won two penalties in quick succession as Wales began to feel the pressure - and from the second penalty the home side at last turned that pressure into points.
The lineout maul was stopped, but the ball came back from the breakdown. Russell made a break for the line, and just as he was being tackled to the ground he offloaded to Steyn, who caught and touched down all in one motion. Russell added the extras to give Scotland a 20-7 lead.
Welsh full-back Liam Williams saw yellow as the referee grew tired of the visitors’ repeated offences, and this time it was Scotland’s turn to make the numerical advantage count. A clean lineout saw the ball come back to Russell, and his punt to the corner found Steyn, who finished calmly for his second try - unconverted this time.
Wales tried to hit back inside the final quarter-hour, but replacement prop Rhys Carre was stripped of the ball when it looked easier to score. Scotland went back in search of the bonus-point try, and they got it when Van der Merwe put in another lung-bursting run up the right and provided the scoring pass for Edinburgh team-mate Kinghorn. Russell missed the conversion again, but the game was in the bag.
Two minutes from time Matt Fagerson got a fifth after another superb pass from Russell, whose conversion attempt was again off target.
Relentless Scotland
The last time Scotland won their opening two games in the Championship was back in 1996, when it was only the Five Nations. And in 2021 and 2022 they beat England first up - only to lose to the Welsh a week later.
So after winning at Twickenham last week they had a big psychological hurdle to clear in this game - and after that stutter late in the first half they cleared it in style.
You don’t win any silverware for winning a couple of matches, of course, and the toughest challenges against France and Ireland have yet to come. But Gregor Townsend’s side are at last showing signs of real maturity.
Warren’s magic wand goes missing
In his first spell as Wales’ head coach from 2007 to 2019, Warren Gatland won all 11 of the matches against Scotland he took charge of. But Welsh rugby was on a high then, and the New Zealander led his side to three Grand Slams. Things are different now, though, and it is clear that Gatland does not have his problems to seek in his second spell at the helm. His team lost 34-10 to Ireland last week in his first game back, they failed to make it 12 out of 12 for their gaffer here, and they now face a tough third match in a fortnight’s time at home to England.
Indiscipline can be costly
Scotland lost this fixture two years ago when Zander Fagerson was sent off after his team had gone in at the break 17-8 ahead. And for a time it looked like we were going to see something similar here after try-scorer George Turner was sent to the sin bin late in the first half. The Scots were 11-0 up at that point, but by the time the Glasgow hooker came back they were only 11-7 ahead.
They got away with it this time, but anything similar against a strong French side in a fortnight is sure to be more severely punished.
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