International Roundup

It was another busy weekend of International action, and here's the roundup...

Scotland 11 - 18 Wales 

Wales put on a magnificent defensive display for a hard-earned 18-11 victory over Scotland in Edinburgh, which featured 7 Ospreys in the squad. 

First-half tries from Josh Adams and Jonathan Davies plus eight points from the boot of outside half Gareth Anscombe saw Wales record their 13th victory in succession.

Scotland scored one try courtesy of Darcy Graham with mercurial playmaker Finn Russell kicking six points.

After a frenetic start Russell gave Scotland the lead with a straightforward penalty from right in front of the posts. But despite the hosts playing most of the rugby in the visiting half it was Wales who grabbed the game’s first try through Adams. 

Scotland hit straight back with a dangerous attack of their own as Darcy Graham broke the tackle of Josh Navidi to charge towards the Wales line. But Wales’ scramble defence was world class as they kept the hosts from crossing the whitewash.

Despite failing to breach Wales’ defence Russell nailed another easy penalty to cut the deficit to a point. Anscombe replied with a terrific penalty of his own from 42 metres out to extend Wales’ lead.

And on only their second visit to the Scotland 22 Wales were over for their second try of the game. Anscombe drilled the ball deep into Scotland’s half from a scrum penalty which allowed Wales to build some pressure.

Wales took a more direct approach as they attempted to smash their way through the Scotland defence with Parkes brushing off the attempts of three tacklers to get within inches of the line. The ball was eventually spread wide for Davies to cross at the corner after 24 phases of play.

But the visitors wasted a golden opportunity to extend their lead just before the break with Anscombe’s penalty bouncing off the posts only to be claimed by Parkes, meaning Wales turned around 15-6 ahead at the interval.

Scotland came out of the dressing room fired up with loose head prop Allan Dell making a 35 metre break before being hauled down by Liam Williams. The hosts went through a few phases before the ball was thrown into touch.

Scotland proceeded to lay siege to the Wales line putting their visitors under intense pressure with Parks and Biggar making try saving tackles before Adam Beard won a penalty at the breakdown. But Gregor Townsend’s side finally unlocked the Wales defence with a moment of brilliance.

Some terrific handling from Russell saw Graham score at the far-right hand corner.

Wales were under intense pressure but were given an opening when a loose pass from Russell saw Adams hack the ball forward. Davies spread the ball wide only for Adams to spill the ball forward with the try line at his mercy.

But Wales survived with Anscombe nailing a last gasp penalty to send Wales on their way to a huge final Guinness Six Nations encounter against Ireland at the Principality Stadium next weekend.

 

Scotland Women 15 - 17 Wales Women 

Lleucu George showed nerves of steel to kick a last gasp conversion to secure Wales Women’s first victory of the Women’s Six Nations campaign.

It looked as if Scotland were going to be the team who were going to get off the mark in this year’s Women’s Six Nations when Chloe Rollie crashed over to give Scotland a 15-10 lead with three minutes to go.

But Siwan Lillicrap, who spilled the ball at the try-line in the first-half, made up for her earlier error to level the scores at the death.

And George slotted the conversion against a strong wind to claim victory with a stunning last kick to get Wales off the mark.

Bethan Lewis capped a fantastic first-half performance with a try to level the scores in reply to Scotland’s scores from Jade Konkel and Rachel Malcolm.

Wales Women looked shell-shocked in the opening stages as Scotland stormed into an early lead.

Wales held-firm but finally cracked when no.8 Konkel crashed over from close range to give the hosts a 5-0 lead.

But the Welsh response was swift. First Wilkins slotted a penalty before Lewis ran a devastating line to cut through in midfield to setup a dangerous attacking platform.

Wales stayed patient and battered the Scotland line before Lewis popped up to pick and go from close range to barge over the line. Wilkins converted to give Phillips’ side a 10-5 advantage.

But Scotland marched straight back down the other end to level the scores when Malcolm peeled off a powerful maul unnoticed to score and level the scores at half-time.

The second period turned into a real war of attrition with both sides not giving away anything in defence.

But as the clock ticked past 75 minutes, Scotland looked like they had dealt Wales a devastating blow. Hannah Smith got on the outside of the defence after a free-flowing attacking move before feeding full-back Malcom raced over at the corner to all-but seal victory.

But Wales charged back downfield and camped on the Scotland line before Lillicrap muscled her way over the line to level the scores with a dramatic close-range try.

The unflappable George stepped up stroked the conversion through the uprights despite a strong wind blowing in her face to spark wild celebrations at Scotstoun.

 

Scotland U20s 27 - 20 Wales U20s

Wales U20 hopes of securing a coveted Six Nations title were left in tatters after a below par performance saw the young side concede four tries in a 27-20 defeat.

Two late tries by replacement hooker Will Griffiths and Sam Costelow, ensured Wales left with a losing bonus point.

Wales could only muster two penalties in the first half via Osprey fly-half, Cai Evans as Scotland led 19-6 at the break thanks to an early try by skipper Connor Boyle and further efforts by Robbie McCallum and Rory McMichael.

A penalty early in the second half edged Scotland further ahead before left-wing Jack Blain gathered a bouncing ball and streaked over for the bonus point try.

Wales finally found some rhythm in the later stages of the second half but late tries by Griffiths and Costelow proved in vain as Scotland secure their first scalp of the campaign and end Welsh hopes of gaining Six Nations glory.