WELSH POWER MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

Match report by Mark Jones

So Scotland’s long wait to beat Wales goes on although for an hour on Saturday it looked like the barren run would end. Wales started better and faster than the previous week and took the game to Scotland. With just over 5 minutes gone Biggar put up a kick which Jamie Roberts chased and won the ball bounced to Gareth Davies, who despite the suspicions of offside sped off to score in the corner and Wales were 7-0 up. However, the Scots did not lie down. After regular attacks they broke the Wales gain line and a well placed kick to the corner found James out of position and Seymour scored. At 7-7 all it was anyones game again. Both sides exchanged kicks and the half ended with Scotland having a well earned 13-10 lead.

North scores for Wales to seal the win

For 20 minutes of the second half Scotland held strong but they could not extend their lead and after an hour it was 16-13 to Scotland. Indeed, a promising attack broke down in the Welsh 22, James gathered the ball and headed off for the Scottish line, and the try looked inevitable but Taylor came from nowhere to make a try saving tackle in the corner. Suddenly Wales were on the up in no part due to the strength of the replacements coming on. Scotland were penalized under the posts and Warburton made a brave decision to go for a scrum. This seemed an error as the scrum ended in a mess but Wales retained possession and after a couple of phases (Man of the Match) Jamie Roberts powered over, 20-13 to Wales. Wales were now on ascendancy and 5 minutes later North produced a brilliant angled run to remind the Welsh of a Ieuan Evans try in the past, although he was helped by some weak Scottish tackling - 27-13 and the game was lost to Scotland. To be fair they did not give up and in last 2 minutes they scored through Taylor to make the final score 27-23. So Wales got a much needed win but still with work to do before the visit of France. Whereas Scotland need to try and find a way to turn the pressure into points before going to Rome. As a spectator whilst not a classic it was a gripping match