Lackluster performance from Scotland hands victory to Wales in Six Nations opener

Wales kicked-off their defence of the Six Nations championship with a relatively easy victory over Scotland at Murrayfield. The visitors managed to run in four tries with the home side only able to reply with one touch-down and two penalties.

Over the past few weeks the Scotland players and coaches have been keen to let the rugby do the talking. However, they may be considering a return to empty comments about “potential”, “progression” and “development” after Sunday’s lacklustre performance.

Wales were forced into making two late changes to their starting line-up following injuries to Gavin Henson and team captain Ryan Jones. Unfortunately for Scotland, Wales did not miss the inspirational duo of Tom Shanklin and Andy Powell, both of whom put in performances that raise questions over why they were not selected in the first place.

The opening quarter of the match saw both teams closely matched with only a Stephen Jones penalty giving Wales a diminutive lead.

Geoff Cross, winning his first cap, turned the game when he made a calamitous tackle on Wales full-back Lee Byrne. Cross collided with Byrne whilst the full-back was in mid-air resulting in the Scotsman being knocked out by Byrne’s knee. Not only did the front-row man have to be substituted, but to add insult to injury, he was yellow carded whilst being withdrawn on a stretcher.

In the following ten minutes, Shanklin and Alun-Wyn Jones touched down for the visitors. However, fly-half Jones failed with both conversion attempts. Scotland winger Simon Webster was replaced by Chris Paterson after being unable to shake off the effects of his huge tackle on Martyn Williams, deputising as Wales captain.

In the closing stages of the first half, Paterson and Jones traded penalties to give the visitors a 3-16 half time lead. Wales extended their lead a mere 46 seconds into the second half when Leigh Halfpenny touched down in the corner to score his third try in only four appearances for his country.

With the score standing at 3-21 going into the final 20 minutes of the match, Wales made some wholesale changes in order to rest some key players ahead of their forthcoming clash with England at the Millennium Stadium next weekend.

Although Wales head coach Warren Gatland later admitted that his sweeping changes were the result of a rush of blood to the head that could have cost his team the match, Scotland’s incompetence ensured that the visitors would leave with only their third win in twelve games at Murrayfield.

Martyn Williams was sin-binned in the 71st minute after an intentional knock-on disrupted one of Scotland’s few try-scoring opportunities. The yellow card coincided with Scotland’s strongest period of the game as they appeared to find some extra determination which sadly came too little too late.

The home side’s only try of the match came in the 73rd minute when Max Evans showed a brilliant piece of individual skill to beat Shane Williams on the outside then step the normally infallible Byrne to touch down. Paterson converted to end the scoring at 13-26.

Scotland may decide to take some consolation from individual performances by the likes of Ross Ford, Simon Taylor and Paterson with substitutes Chris Cusiter, and Evans both looking sharp.

With the Murrayfield men next travelling to Paris to take on Marc Lievremont’s French side that will be looking to atone for their 30-21 loss away to Ireland, a drastic improvement is needed to avoid a complete loss of momentum.

Scotland coach Frank Hadden acknowledged that his side were outplayed in the first half, with Halfpenny’s score signalling the end of the game as a contest and ending any chances of a Scotland victory.

He said: “The game was effectively over just after half time when Wales scored which was bitterly disappointing. We knew we were playing the best side in the Northern hemisphere but the disappointing thing is that we allowed them to show it so easily.”

Hadden believes that the nature of the tournament means that his side will only improve with each game. He believes that despite this set-back, his team can remain optimistic about shortly recording their first victory in the Six Nations since their 15-9 home win against England last March

“Every week you get stronger,” he said, adding: “you get better organised and you get more of an idea of what you are doing. Obviously we have a massive amount of work to do before next week but it is a completely different challenge and I would be very disappointed if we couldn’t make a better fight of it.”