Scotland v Wales
WORDS: Tom Bevan (Sprout Editorial Group)
Conditions: Cold and dry
As the red of Wales and the blue of Scotland lined up for their opening Six Nations match, there was a feeling of inevitability hanging over the scene.
On a wintry Edinburgh afternoon, cold enough to keep most folks on the sofa, Welsh fans travelled in their droves to Murrayfield to cheer their team on to what they hoped would be an easy victory.
After a promising autumn series, the Welsh side were bookies favourites to reclaim their Six Nations crown and many expected fireworks in Edinburgh from the Wales team.
Scotland on the other hand had a few injury problems and despite recent success from their club sides, were never considered a huge threat by the media.
They were, however, given a small boost when Ryan Jones, the Welsh captain, pulled out an hour before kick-off with an injury. This meant that Martin Williams had his chance to wear the captain’s armband, a prospect that any international player would relish.
After the ever passionate Welsh and Scottish anthems the game kicked off with the atmosphere lively, although slightly muffled with the cold.
The affair started brightly and after some early pressure from both sides, Steven Jones kicked the Welsh into a 0-3 lead. The penalty, given for holding on in the ruck by the Scottish came after twelve minutes, and soon after the Scots faced a further problem.
The Scottish prop, Geoff Cross, was knocked out after a late tackle on Lee Byrne and, to add insult to injury he succumbed to being sin-binned for his efforts. At the same time Simon Webster was asked to leave the field by the referee, Alain Rolland, as he was suffering the effects of concussion from an earlier collision.
Now down to 14 men, the home side suffered an onslaught of Welsh attack. Pushing towards the try line, the Welsh went through the phases and soon created space for danger man, Shane Williams to run into. He then passed back inside to Lee Byrne who in turn gave Tom Shanklin the chance to finish off the well constructed move. Finish it off he did, touching down his 17th try for his country. Steven Jones steered the conversion wide, but the score read eight to the good for Wales after 22 minutes.
Just seconds later, some dreadful scrimmaging from Scotland cost them dear as Alun Wyn Jones scored after a fast break from the Welsh. Another failed conversion from Jones wasn’t promising, but the visitors were 13 ahead after 30 minutes and looked well on their way to a comfortable opening victory.
However, Scotland weren’t going to let anyone walk over them and they soon had three points on the board themselves after Patterson slotted over a 20 yard penalty. From then on, the Scots pushed Wales further and further back, and came exceptionally close to scoring a try of their own.
The Welsh defence, strong as ever turned over the ball and raced back up field to win a penalty, which Jones converted in to three points on the stroke of half time. Wales led 3-16 at the break.
It took just 50 seconds from the restart for Wales to stretch their lead with Cardiff centre Jamie Roberts surging through the Scottish line towards the posts. Tackled yards from the line, Roberts recycles the ball well as it is quickly passed along the line.
Shane Williams makes an attempt for a try, but then cleverly flicks the ball to Leigh Halfpenny who touches down right in the corner. With the score 3-21, Jones misses the conversion once again, although that doesn’t stop any of the Welsh fans celebrations, who had just come back from purchasing their halftime refreshments.
Chris Patterson is again called in to action for Scotland as Wales concede a sloppy penalty in font of their own posts. He confidently gives Scotland another three points, although the home side still trailed by 15 points, with ten minutes of the second half gone.
As Scotland struggled to claim any decent possession, more pressure from Wales followed and number eight, Andy Powell, came close to the try line once more for the visitors. Again though, Mike Phillips was quick to the breakdown, throwing the ball out to Shane who didn’t hang about and darted past the defence to score his 45th try for Wales.
Wales were then cut down to fourteen men as Martin Williams was dismissed with a yellow card, which gave Scotland the wake up call they needed as they finally pressed into Welsh territory. A well worked attacked turned into five pints as the ball is pushed out wide right to substitute Max Evans, who sidesteps past both Williams and Byrne to give Scotland a lifeline.
Followed by an impressive conversion from Patterson, Wales' lead was cut back down to 15 points, the game at 13-26. But was it an all too little, too late scenario for Scotland? With only ten minutes to go and two tries to score, the odds were stacked against the Scots, who finished the game very much on top as they pressed for those all important points.
The game ended 13-26 to the Welsh, who despite playing well never quite let off the fireworks that some expected.
Warren Gatland was pleased with the victory and the fans participation in the game, although warned that next week's affair in Cardiff would be more difficult: "If the fans are going to show that much passion and loyalty then they deserve to be paid back and I thought the players did that well [with the victory].
"However, I think England have gone into a little bit of a siege mentality and decided they are going to become a really tough team to beat. With the rivalry between Wales and England, it should be a great game".
Let’s hope that next week’s result is just as pleasing for the defending Grand Slam Champions.
