Wales extend winning run over Scotland

Wales recovered from being behind at half time to beat Scotland 27-23 at the Millennium Stadium and secure their first win of their campaign.

Wales trailed 10-13 at half time but went on to out-score Scotland by three tries to two in the match and extend their winning streak to nine straight wins.

Scotland have not beaten Wales since 2007 when they won 21-9 at Murrayfield.

A controversial seventh minute offside solo try from Gareth Davies had put Warren Gatland’s men in front, before Scotland took control.

Tommy Seymour crossed five minutes later and three penalties from Greig Laidlaw put Scotland in position to end their 14-year wait for a win in Cardiff.

But a late flourish from the hosts saw Jamie Roberts crash over, before George North sealed a ninth-straight victory.

Duncan Taylor darted over in the 80th minute, but it was too little, too late for Scotland.

The three-try triumph puts Wales firmly in the Six Nations title race after their opening 16-16 draw with Ireland.

Unlike last weekend at the Aviva Stadium, Wales made a fast start and were ahead after seven minutes.

Outside-half Dan Biggar had shaken off an ankle injury to start the match, and his well weighted chip through allowed Roberts to slap the ball back to scrum-half Davies.

And the Scarlets man could not be stopped as he sprinted his way past the covering Seymour and Stuart Hogg for his sixth try in seven test matches.

Biggar converted, but another clever kick, this time from Scotland outside-half Finn Russell, pulled the visitors level five minutes later.

Vern Cotter’s side went through 21 phases in attack before the ball was worked to the Scotland stand-off.

He delivered a perfectly weighted kick into the Wales in-goal area, and Seymour was on-hand to touch down to match Davies’s record of six scores in seven. Captain Ladlaw landed the conversion to tie the scores at 7-7.

Scotland suffered a blow on the half-hour mark when Hogg collided with Wales hooker Scott Baldwin and was forced off with an injury.

But they were ahead a minute later. Justin Tipuric held on to the ball at a ruck and referee George Clancy awarded a penalty just inside the Wales half.

Laidlaw was on-target with the long-range penalty goal to give Scotland a three-point lead.

But the Welsh scrum was proving a dangerous weapon for Warren Gatland’s side, and a powerful shunt saw them win a penalty from 40 metres out.

Biggar levelled the scores at 10-10, but Laidlaw struck a late penalty goal to give his side a 13-10 half-time lead.

Scotland surrendered their lead four minutes into the second-half after their backline went offside and Biggar converted another penalty.

But Laidlaw kicked the Scots ahead once again after a powerful scrum forced a penalty.

Cotter’s side looked to ram home their advantage with another wave of attack, but flanker John Hardie’s knock-on almost led to a Wales try.

Wing Tom James scooped up the loose ball and charged 70 metres downfield, but Duncan Taylor closed down the angle to stop him just short.

Wales hammered at the Scotland line through Roberts, Ken Owens and Jonathan Davies but all they got was a penalty.

But the breakthrough came after Wales opted to scrummage.

Taulupe Faletau pounced as the ball came out of a fractured scrum, before replacement Dan Lydiate was stopped short.

But centre Roberts crashed through on a devastating angle to touch down, with Biggar converting for a 20-16 lead.

And the victory was wrapped for Wales when North combined with Biggar on a scissors move and beat four Scottish tacklers to score.

Taylor went over in the final minute, but Scotland surrendered possession from the restart and the game was over.

Jamie Roberts was named Six Nations man of the match while Scotland’s Duncan Taylor earns a special mention for a try saving tackle as well as a scoring late try.

Final Score Wales 27 (10) Scotland 23 (13)

Scorers

Wales
Tries – G Davies, Roberts, North
Pen – Biggar (2)
Con – Biggar (3)
Drop –

Scotland
Tries – Seymour, Taylor
Pen – Laidlaw (3)
Con – Laidlaw, Weir
Drop –

Match Officials
Referee: George Clancy (IRL)

Teams

Wales

Liam Williams; George North, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, Tom James; Dan Biggar, Gareth Davies; Taulupe Faletau, Justin Tipuric, Sam Warburton (capt); Alun Wyn Jones, Luke Charteris; Samson Lee, Scott Baldwin, Rob Evans.

Replacements: Ken Owens, Gethin Jenkins, Tomas Francis, Bradley Davies, Dan Lydiate, Lloyd Williams, Rhys Priestland, Gareth Anscombe.

Scotland

Stuart Hogg; Tommy Seymour, Mark Bennett, Duncan Taylor, Sean Lamont; Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw (capt); David Denton, John Hardie, John Barclay; Jonny Gray, Richie Gray; Willem Nel, Ross Ford, Alisdair Dickinson.

Replacements: Stuart McInally, Gordon Reid, Zander Fagerson, Tim Swinson, Blair Cowan, Sam Hidaglo-Clyne, Duncan Weir, Ruaridh Jackson.