As Scotland plugged away in the Cardiff rain, with the clock well in the red, there seemed no penetrating the red wall that stood tall before them.
Finn Russell, Scotland's mercurial playmaker, is a man who simply cannot help but smile.
Whether overcooking a kick-off or fluffing his lines with a drop goal, the first response is always for the affable 10 to grin without a care in the world.
Roughly ten minutes from the end of a hard-fought, pulsating clash in Cardiff, that happy-go-lucky spirit had ebbed away.
Read more: All the reaction and breaking stories in the wake of Wales' win over Scotland
With the scores level and the match finely poised, Scotland's chances of a first victory in Cardiff left the pitch with Russell as he was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on.
At first, the smile was one of disbelief, coupled with a shake of the head. Soon, it would fade - and wouldn't return before the final whistle.
For Wales, this was the perfect response to a miserable week. From the off, the determination to right some wrongs was there.
If proof was needed that Wales' capacity to bounce back better than Alan Partridge was undiminished, this was it.
Last week, Nick Tompkins cut a slightly bizarre figure in Dublin. What marks him out as a player is his somewhat manic style, a raw bundle of energy in the make of a Duracell bunny.
In Ireland, that amounted to a relentless stream of back-slapping and rallying calls, trying his best to gee up Wales team-mates in a losing cause. Given how morose the situation felt, he seemed a little like the last kid to be told that Father Christmas might not actually be real.
However, without over-emphasising a change in Tompkins' nature, there was a steel to him. When Wales were in possession, the centre could be continuously heard calling to his outside backs.
"Talk to me," he screamed with as much urgency as there was seriousness. "You've got to talk."
When there was a break in play, he was either offering some wisdom - in tandem with expressive hand signals - to team-mates or providing a sounding board to his captain, Dan Biggar.
Of course, Wales' skipper is no shrinking violet himself. On the occasion of his 100th Test cap, he produced a performance - both as an experienced outside-half and as a fledgling captain - that epitomised his career to date.
Were there any doubt that he wouldn't, the Northampton Saints star led by example - mixing the raw, unfiltered thirst for victory with a personable approach with officials.
"Great set," he bellowed at his forwards, much improved after last week's debacle. "Great set. Keep that energy."
On the flip of a switch, when referee Nic Berry stopped the fly-half from taking a penalty to touch quickly, Biggar drily responded: "I'm not going to miss it from there, don't worry!"
Unsurprisingly, Scotland knew the threat of Biggar. All too often, Scottish voices could be heard screaming - on either side of the ball - to watch or target the Welshman.
It was Wales' determination to right the wrongs, to bounce back with trademark style, that put them in the fight as the final straight approached.
After Russell's moment of madness, the ball was in Wales' court.
It wasn't the smoothest road to victory.
Biggar's snap drop goal, the one that would ultimately prove the difference, was met with more than a hint of frustration from the fly-half as he turned away.
He simply looked up at the Welsh attack that had floundered in front of him, a little miffed that Wales had only come away with three.
It was a sentiment shared by Liam Williams, with the full-back pointing to an imaginary watch on his wrist as he mouthed the word 'time' to the fly-half.
It mattered little. Wales were in the driving seat. Scotland had to do the chasing.
Try as they might, they couldn't.
"Give them nothing," was Biggar's simple instruction. His team-mates delivered.
One timely breakdown intervention from Dillon Lewis was met simply by the sight of Aaron Wainwright staring over him. No further words were needed.
Roughly around the time Biggar limped off, some 70 minutes or so after first taking a knock in a herculean effort, Russell returned - sans smile.
As Scottish phase after phase went nowhere, the smile showed no signs of returning. Eventually, he threw his arms to the air - out of ideas and out of time.
Shortly after that symbolic admission of defeat, the full-time whistle went for real.
The solitary supporter in a Wales jersey, dragon on his head and face painted totally red other than for the five white letters spelling 'WALES', who had tried his best to lead intermittent renditions of Hymns and Arias, was now drowned out.
A red-faced needle in a haystack of Welsh jubilation.
In that general direction, Williams offered a massive fist pump - as much a release of pent-up emotion as a celebration.
Biggar, now off the pitch, couldn't hide his emotions as he celebrated what he'd define as one of his finest victories in a Welsh jersey.
Vice captain Adam Beard, another who has stepped up to a leadership role, simply stood there stationary, arms aloft, before eventually being engulfed by Wainwright and Dewi Lake.
Fittingly, as the players exchanged the usual pleasantries, a limping Biggar and Wales' other latest centurion, Jonathan Davies, managed to find each other and share an embrace - complete with the biggest of smiles.
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