And Bull on a bruising game
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Alun Wyn Jones speaks: “Scotland did a job on us in 2017 and they almost did it again in the second half,” the Wales captain tells the BBC. “We started well but we definitely didn’t win that second period. We couldn’t get the ball back and gave them easy penalties and we just didn’t get out.”
Upon being told his team had to make 180 tackles in the second half, he is full of praise for their defensive coach. “Shaun Edwards earned his wage this week in the way we defended,” he says. “We feel like we are improving game by game but it was more of a defensive performance today. We will make sure we enjoy each other’s company tonight and then we start again when we go back to Cardiff tomorrow.”
Scotland captain Stuart McInally speaks: “We’re obviously massively disappointed with that,” he said, in an interview with the BBC. “We had a chance to win the game and weren’t quite accurate enough. We got a massive lift when Darcy Graham scored but they’re an excellent side and they’ve got a great defence. We just couldn’t break it down on this occasion.”
Wales centre and man of the match Hadleigh Parkes speaks: “We played well in the first half but Scotland threw it at us in the second and they played well,” he says. “The fans probably enjoyed it and that is the main thing. At one stage they had three fly-halves out there so we knew they would chuck the ball around, but it was a real team performance today and we had to dig deep.”
Full-time at Murrayfield: Scotland 11-18 Wales
Immense Welsh defence in the second half leaves them on course for the Grand Slam. Only Ireland can stop them now - the sides meet in Cardiff next Saturday for what could be a thriller. Scotland were much improved in the second half, but lacked the cutting edge to break down Wales, who were fairly heroic in defence.
80 min: Scotland 11-18 Wales Gareth Anscombe makes no mistake, bisecting the posts with the final kick of the game. It’s all over at Murrayfield, where Wales have beaten Scotland by seven points.
79 min: Scotland 11-15 Wales Ten phases in and Wales have a penalty advantage after a Scottish fails to release in the tackle. Hadleigh Parkes is announced as man of the match as Wales prepare to take a penalty under the posts.
79 min: Scotland 11-15 Wales Wales in possession on the Scotland 22, directly in front of the posts.
77 min: Scotland 11-15 Wales Wales line-out halfway inside the Scotland half. They have three minutes to try to see out.
75 min: Scotland 11-15 Wales Scotland line-out just outside the Wales 22. Scotland are bossing possession, but losing ground all the time. Nick Grigg makes a couple of yards, then Pete HOrne is driven backwards by Justin Tipuric. A little kick in behind sees Ali Price tackling Gareth Anscombe while labouring under the delusion that the Wales out-half had caught the ball. He hadn’t - Wales get a penalty and several minutes of Scottish dominance ends without them scoring.
73 min: Scotland 11-15 Wales: Other changes: Scotland hooker Stuart McInally has been replaced by Fraser Brown. Wales front rowers Elliott Dee and Dillon Lewis have replaced hooker Ken Owens and prop Tomas Francis. And breathe ...
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70 min: Scotland 11-15 Wales Jamie Ritchie wins the line-out for Scotland, but his pack is driven backwards and find themselves 15 metres from the Welsh line. Aaron Wainwright and Aled Davies have come on for Wales, replacing Ross Moriarty at No8 and scrum-half Gareth Davies respectively. Scotland are still in possession, just outside the Wales 22.
70 min: Scotland 11-15 Wales Wales collapse a maul and Scotland have a penalty five metres from the Wales line. They kick for touch.
70 min: Scotland 11-15 Wales Hamish Watson, on for Scotland from the bench, bounces through two tackles as he makes hard yards into the Wales 22. Scotland line-out, five metres from the Wales try line.
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67 min: Scotland 11-15 Wales More pressure from Scotland, who are roared on by their home crowd. They’re on the Wales 22 Stuart McInally takes a pop pass and almost breaks through the Wales defence. Now Adam Hastings is in possession, eight metres from the Wales line. The Welsh line up their defence as Scotland work the ball through phase No15.
65 min: Scotland 11-15 Wales Hadleigh Parkes gets his toe to a loose ball and boots it forwards. It’s gathered by Gareth Davies and a promising Wales assault on the Scotland try line breaks down. Scotland winger Darcy Graham is forced off with injury and replaced by the only remaining forward on Scotland’s bench, Greig Laidlaw. He goes in at scrum-half and Ali Price moves out to the wing. Both teams also make several changes to their forwards.
63 min: Scotland 11-15 Wales Scotland are a team transformed in this second half, having been completely bossed in the first. Wales have a line-out just outside their own 22 and win a free-kick as Scotland fail to leave enough room between the two sets of forwards. “I gave you two warnings,” says ref Pascal Gauzere.
61 min: Scotland 11-15 Wales Scotland win a penalty after a wonderful grubber kick from Finn Russell Hadleigh Parkes gathers the ball but Wales go off their feet. Wales kick for touch and Stuart McInally has the ball as a rolling maul inches into the Wales 22.
TRY for Scotland!!!
58min: Scotland 11-15 Wales Darcy Graham goes over in the corner after receiving the pass from Adam Hastings in a set-piece try that originated at a ruck on the other side of the pitch. Byron McGuigan and Finn Russell were also involved as the ball went through several pairs of hands while the hosts eviscerated their visitors. The conversion is a difficult one and is missed.
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57min: Scotland 6-15 Wales Scotland win a penalty for a high tackle by George North, who caught Ali Price around the neck. They kick for touch and have the line-out halfway inside the Wales 22. There’s a break in play as a couple of Wales players receive running repairs from their medical team.
56min: Scotland 6-15 Wales Scotland with the ball again, but they’re being forced backwards by a Welsh team whose blitz defence has been excellent.
54min: Scotland 6-15 Wales With Scotland putting Wales under siege, Adam Hastings almost breaks through the line but is brought to ground by a brilliant tackle from Dan Biggar. Wales win a penalty about seven metres from their own line for an infringement when Hasting’s is unable to release the ball.
53 min: Scotland 6-15 Wales The scrum needs a reset at this pivotal moment for Scotland. Ali Price rolls in the ball, takes it from the feet of Josh Strauss and on they go with Grant Gilchrist charging like a bull for the line.
50 min: Scotland 6-15 Wales What I meant to say, of course, is that Scotland elect to kick for touch and find themselves attacking the Wales line. Apologies! Hadleigh Parkes and Dan Biggar prevent Scotland from going over after a chip over the defensive line from Ali Price. Five-metre scrum for Scotland.
48 min: Scotland 6-15 Wales Scotland are in possession again, with Nick Grigg almost breaking the Wales defensive line. He’s stripped of the ball, the Murrayfield crowd decide it’s a high tackle and referee Pascal Gauzare eventually calls play back, possibly after some intervention by his TMO Marius Jonker. Replays suggest it’s a harsh decision, but Scotland elect to kick for touch and find themselves attacking the Wales line.
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46 min: Scotland 6-15 Wales Alan Dell goes on a rampaging run, making about 20 metres and Scotland are in the Wales 22 with Josh Strauss in possession. Murrayfield erupts as Wales set their defence. A promising Scotland move halfway insdie the Wales 22 breaks down when Finn Russell sends a rogue pass out over the touchline.
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44 min: Scotland 6-15 Wales Jamie Ritchie gets a ticking off from the referee after a bit of argy-bargy with Josh Adams. Referee Pascal Gauzere tells him to behave himself and play resumes. Scotland in possession on the halfway line and they win a penalty when Alun Wyn Jones doesn’t roll out of a tackle. Scotland kick for touch and fail to find it - that’s poor.
42 min: Scotland 6-15 Wales Wales build patiently again, going through phases after phase just inside the Scotland half. Their move breaks down when Jason Tipuric passes to Josh Adams, who knocks on.
42 min: Scotland 6-15 Wales Josh Adams kicks and chases, but puts too much welly on his kick. Darcy Graham catches it just under his own posts. There’s quite a strong wind blowing in a westerly direction across Murrayfield.
Second half: Scotland 6-15 Wales
41 min: No more changes to either side at half-time as play resumes. Wales form a ruck from the kick-off, Gareth Davies sends the ball long and it’s caught by Adam Hastings.
A nice touch at half-time: Scotland legend Doddie Weir, who is suffering from Motor Neuron Disease, gets a warm round of applause as he receives a cheque for his foundation. A £150,000 (I think - I only got a fleeting glimpse of it) contribution to his foundation from the rugby unions of Wales and Scotland.
Women’s Six Nations
“England’s women all but wrapped up the Six Nations title in Exeter and it is impossible to imagine Scotland denying them a grand slam at Twickenham next Saturday night,” writes Ian Malin.
Half-time: Scotland 6-15 Wales
Wales lead by nine points at half-time, but it’s a scoreline that scarcely does their excellent first half performance justice. They’ve bossed the game in almost every department and Scotland have been fairly poor. They can consider themselves very lucky to be less than 10 points behind.
Meanwhile …
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40 min: Scotland 6-15 Wales The scrum is reset and Gareth Davies puts in the ball. Moriarty picks it up from the back of the scrum, charges and passes to Davies. He pops it up for Josh Adams, who knocks on. That’s it for the first half.
39 min: Scotland 6-15 Wales Scrum on the Scotland five-metre line down in the corner for Wales, who thought they had driven over for the try.
37 min: Scotland 6-15 Wales A penalty for Wales about 15 metres from the Scotland line, when Jamie Ritchie goes off his feet while trying to steal the ball. It looks a harsh decision: “You weren’t supporting your own body weight,” says referee Pascal Gauzere. Replays suggest the official was a bit harsh. The penalty is taken and hits the post. Wales react quickest and Adam Hastings puts in a try-saving tackle on Josh Adams right in the corner, inches from the line.
35 min: Scotland 6-15 Wales Wales are in possession after a brilliant catch by Liam Williams. Adam North drives into the Scotland half, before another fine kick from Anscombe gives Wales a line-out on the Scotland five-metre line. The Welsh are in complete control here.
34 min: Scotland 6-15 Wales George North kicks one high for Gareth Anscombe and Jonathan Davies to chase. Adam Hastings takes the ball under pressure in his first test since coming on.
30 min: Scotland 6-15 Wales Gareth Anscombe pulls his conversion from the touchline wide of the near upright. More woe for Scotland, as Blair Kinghorn goes off having been unable to run off an ankle injury. He’s replaced by Adam Hastings.
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TRY for WALES!!!
28 min: Scotland 6-15 Wales Wales continue to go through the phases, on 20+ now, as they patiently try to make ground inside the Scotland 22. Hadleigh Parkes makes a break and gets Wales to within three metres of the Scotland posts. He’s tackled, the ball’s played out towards the left touchline and Jonathan Davies crashes over.
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24 min: Scotland 6-10 Wales Now Scotland full-back Blair Kinghorn is hobbling around looking in severe discomfort. They’ll run out of substitutes at this rate, if he has to go out. Wales win a penalty for a Scottish infringement at the scrum and kick for touch, which they find at the Wales 22. They take a quick line-out and George North wins it before his team get deeper and deeper into the Scotland 22.
24 min: Scotland 6-10 Wales Another penalty for Wales, which Gareth Anscombe puts over from a long way out.
21 min: Scotland 6-7 Wales Tommy Seymour is helped from the field, the Scotland winger looking like he might have broken hand and as if his afternoon is over. He’s replaced by Byron McGuigan. That’s Scotland third change already. For Wales, Adam Beard goes off with a blood injury or for a HIA and is replaced by Jake Ball. Having passed his HIA, Jamie Ritchie returns for Scotland. It’s hard to keep up with all this touchline activity.
19 min: Scotland 6-7 Wales Scotland go through the phases without making any ground. The ball finds it’s way to Darcy Graham in the centre and he skips past several Welshmen before being brought to ground three metres from the Scottish line, under the post. Wales have time to regroup and form their defence. Scotland win a penalty when one of their players is tackled without the ball. Finn Russell slots over.
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17 min: Scotland 3-7 Wales Alun Wyn Jones is penalised for putting his leg on the ball to prevent Scotland from getting their hands on it. Penalty for Scotland, who kick for touch through Blair Kinghorn. He makes it, right on the Wales 22.
16 min: Scotland 3-7 Wales Magnus Bradbury is stripped of the ball and Wales go on the attack again. Scotland turn over possession and Ali Price kicks long. Wales are in possession and a ruck forms just inside their own half.
TRY for Wales!
13 min: Scotland 3-7 Wales Sensational play from Wales, who go through the phases and send the ball through four or five pairs of hands before Josh Adams is released down the touchline by Jonathan Davies. With only a narrow strip of grass to operate on, he shimmies and wriggles, evading a tackle from Blair Kinghorn before getting over the line. Gareth Anscombe adds the extras.
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12 min: Scotland 3-0 Wales Finn Russell puts Scotland 3-0 up, slotting over a penalty from 26 metres out after Josh Navidi was penalised for offside in a line-out.
10 min: Scotland 0-0 Wales Scotland win a penalty deep inside their own half when Ross Moriarty doesn’t roll away from the tackle after Darcy Graham had caught a high ball. There wasn’t much he could do about it, so quick was Justin Tipuric in to form a ruck.
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9 min: Scotland 0-0 Wales There’s a break in play as Scotland No7 Jamie Ritchie gets treatment and is forced off with some manner of injury - presumably for a head injury assessment. Hamish Watson replaces him.
8 min: Scotland 0-0 Wales A forward pass by Stuart McInally after around a dozen phases of play ruins Scotland momentum and gives Wales a chance to clear their lines. It’s been a good start by Scotland.
6 min: Scotland 0-0 Wales Scotland attack up the left wing, with Nick Grigg in possession. The ball’s played out through hands to the other side of the pitch and Blair Kinghorn charges into the Wales 22. Jonathan Davies tackles him. Scotland go through the phases on the Scotland 22, trying to get over the gain line.
4 min: Scotland 0-0 Wales From the kick-out, the ball gets caught in the swirling breeze (perhaps the conditions aren’t so ideal after all) and Gareth Davies knocks on, the ball hitting his arm and bouncing off the ground as he leaped to catch it. Scotland scrum inside the Welsh half.
3 min: Scotland 0-0 Wales Play is on the halfway line as Liam Williams releases Josh Adams away down the right wing. He kicks and Finn Russell touches the ball down behind his own line.
Scotland v Wales is go ...
1 min: Wales get the ball airborne and play is under way in the first of this weekend’s three Six Nations matches. Wales win the kick-off back and within three phases get the ball into the air again. Alun Wyn Jones takes the ball into touch, but his side have the put-in for a scrum they won for an earlier knock-on.
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Out come the teams: They were expecting atrocious weather in Edinburgh today, but it’s a perfect afternoon for rugby as the teams run out for the pre-match formalities. Land of My Fathers is the first anthem to be sung, followed by Flower of Scotland.
Not long now: I Can’t Get No Sleep (Insomnia) by Faithless is blaring out over the PA at Murrayfield, but the sight of up to 50 musicians, some of them wielding brass instruments and at least one armed to the teeth with bagpipes, marching across the pitch suggests kick-off is not far away. The teams line up in the tunnel waiting for the signal to join them.
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Scottish and Wales match stats ...
Embrace your inner nerd and impress your friends and fellow alickadoos in the clubhouse bar as Simon Gleave, Head of Analysis at Gracenote, strafes us with his stat gun.
- Scotland have conceded more points in the first 20 minutes (25) than any other team in this year’s Six Nations.
- Scotland’s only win against Wales since Warren Gatland took charge of the Welsh was when Gatland had taken a sabbatical to be in charge of the Lions and had handed the reins to Rob Howley (29-13 in 2017).
- Ali Price and Finn Russell are the starting Scotland halfbacks against Wales in the Six Nations for the third year in a row. They have only started together in two other matches in the competition (against England and Italy in 2017 when Greig Laidlaw was injured).
- Tommy Seymour plays his 50th test for Scotland today and is only the fourth person to play a half century of matches for Scotland on the wing - after Sean Lamont (82), Kenny Logan (68) and Chris Paterson (50).
- Of the six teams in this year’s Six Nations, Wales have scored the fewest first half points in 2019 (15, with 12 being scored against Italy) and are the only team yet to score a try before the break.
- Wales have lost nearly one in three of their lineouts in this year’s Six Nations Championship and have stolen only one of their opponents’ lineouts (against Italy).
- Adam Beard returns to the team. He is one of the youngest players to start in the second row for Wales in the Six Nations. Only his captain Alun Wyn Jones and Jake Ball have been starting locks in the Six Nations for Wales at a younger age than Beard.
- Alun Wyn Jones will play for the 106th time for Wales since Warren Gatland took charge of the team in 2008. No northern hemisphere player has played as much as Jones in that period. Ireland’s Rory Best is the closest (99th Test since the beginning of 2008 this weekend). Kieran Read (New Zealand, 118), Stephen Moore (Australia, 110), Sam Whitelock (New Zealand, 108) and Tendai Mtawarira (South Africa, 107) are the only players to have been selected for their country more than Alun Wyn Jones since the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
- Wales have scored multiple tries against Scotland in 10 of the last 12 tests between the two teams.
Scotland team news: “Gregor Townsend has dropped his captain Greig Laidlaw for Ali Price, whose last start in the Six Nations was against Wales last year when he was replaced after 48 minutes as Scotland fell to a 34-7 defeat, wrote Paul Rees in his preview. “With Finn Russell returning at outside-half after missing the France match due to concussion, the home side’s unpredictability factor will be enhanced.”
Wales team news: “Warren Gatland has made one change to his Wales starting lineup. The Ospreys lock Adam Beard replaces Cory Hill, who will miss the rest of the tournament after suffering an ankle injury during Wales’s 21-13 victory over England 10 days ago. The Scarlets forward Jake Ball, meanwhile, takes Beard’s place on the bench.
Today's match officials
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France)
Touch judges: Luke Pearce (England) and Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Scotland v Wales line-ups
Scotland: 15-Kinghorn; 14-Seymour, 13-Grigg, 12-P Horne, 11-Graham; 10-Russell, 9-Price; 1-Dell, 2-McInally (c), 3-Nel, 4-Gilchrist, 5-J Gray, 6-Bradbury, 7-Ritchie, 8-Strauss.
Replacements: 16-Brown, 17-Reid, 18-Berghan, 19-Toolis, 20-Watson, 21-Laidlaw, 22-Hastings, 23-McGuigan.
Wales: 15-L Williams; 14-North, 13-J Davies, 12-Parkes, 11-Adams; 10-Anscombe, 9-G Davies; 1-R Evans, 2-Owens, 3-Francis, 4-Beard, 5-AW Jones (c), 6-Navidi, 7-Tipuric, 8-Moriarty.
Replacements: 16- Dee, 17-Smith, 18-Lewis, 19-Ball, 20-Wainwright, 21-A Davies, 22-Biggar, 23-Watkin.
The only unbeaten side in this year’s competition, Wales travel to Edinburgh to face Scotland as they attempt to keep their Grand Slam hopes alive. The Welsh camp have had to deal with the distraction of the ongoing row over the potential merger of bitter rivals Scarlets and Ospreys, a move that is currently “off the table” and has been described as “absolute lunacy” by David Moffett, the former chief executive of the Welsh Rugby Union.
“There’s always gossip and chat, it’s Welsh rugby at the end of the day,” said the Wales centre Jonathan Davies earlier this week. “I think players are looking forward to a big Test match on the weekend, that’s what we love doing, that’s what we’re here to do. I think that’s the most important thing now for us, is to focus on that.” Following consecutive defeats, the Scots have provided their own talking point, with Gregor Townsend opting to drop his captain and kicker, Greig Laidlaw. Kick-off is at 2.15pm (GMT), but stay tuned for team news and build-up in the meantime.
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