Wales 22 Scotland 27

Two injury-time penalties, one from Scotland fullback Brendan Laney and the other from Duncan Hodge, saw Scotland win the battle of the 2002 Home Unions basement as they sent Wales crashing to a 27-22 defeat.

It was a heartbreaking end to the Six Nations for a Welsh side who have endured more than their fair share of woes this season – both on and off the field – and leaves coach Steve Hansen in no doubt about the challenge facing him in his newly-appointed role as permanent Wales coach until the end of the 2003/2004 season.

Top of his priorities will doubtlessly be addressing the woeful performance of his front five in the set-piece.  Wales stuttered badly throughout the match, starved of possession for long periods by a misfiring lineout and the lack of a solid platform in the scrummage.

Strangely, there was no inkling of these major flaws in the Welsh game in the opening minutes of the match, the Welsh forwards doing a fair imitation of Hansen's beloved Canterbury outfit, superb continuity play nearly resulting in an early try for Rob Howley, the scrum-half seemingly hell-bent on finishing off his international career with a bang.

But after a lightning break that left the Scots trailing in his after-burners, the No.9 opted to off-load to second row Andy Moore, the lock without the pace to turn Howley's opportunism into an early score, giving away a penalty in the process.

Minutes later, a typical storming close-quarter drive from Colin Charvis – revelling in his new role as national captain – resulted in a penalty for the Welsh.  Stephen Jones duly stepped up and, showing no signs of the back spasm which had put his participation in this encounter in doubt, slotted the three points to settle Welsh nerves in the eighth minute.

Two minutes later, the Howley-Charvis axis was again apparent, creating space on the outside for wing Craig Morgan who set up the ruck.  Spotting a hole in the Scottish back three, Welsh flanker Martin Williams chipped ahead after spotting fullback Brendan Laney out of position but the Welsh could not convert pressure into a try-scoring chance.

Stephen Jones kicked his second penalty in the 15th minute, before Wales made another dangerous incursion into Scottish territory, Mark Taylor 40 metres down the left after opposite number Townsend had knocked on.  Taylor kept the ball alive, despite being tackled, and the desperate Scottish defence chose to kill the ball at the ensuing ruck, Jones adding another three points to the Welsh tally.

It seemed that the home side were on their way to victory, but then Scotland began to take a greater hand in proceedings.  The visitors stormed into the Welsh 22 before launching a forward drive towards the Welsh tryline.  With referee Joel Jutge unable to work out what had happened in the pile-up over the line in the left-hand corner, the video ref was consulted and duly awarded a try to Gordon Bulloch.

Laney was unable to slot the difficult touchline conversion, but the score gave the visitors a renewed sense of purpose and minutes later, in a carbon copy of the first try, Bulloch scored again, burrowing over after a textbook forward drive from the Scottish front five.

This time Laney was on target with the conversion to make it 12-9 to Scotland.  Having missed an ambitious penalty goal from the halfway, Laney slotted another three points on the stroke of half-time following some superb continuity play from his team.

It was the front five who Scotland had to thank for their slender half-time lead, particularly second row Scott Murray who had been a constant thorn in the side of the Welsh lineout which stuttered badly throughout.

As they had done in the first half, Wales again started well, the introduction of Iestyn Harris to the midfield having an immediate impact.  The former Wales Rugby League captain has not had an easy ride during his debut season in the Welsh jersey, but his class was apparent early in the second half when he created a try for Rhys Williams, using his pace to ghost through the tackle of John Leslie before off-loading to his grateful team-mate to touch down under the posts.

Jones was not on target with the conversion to make it 16-15 and from here on in the lead was to change hands several times.

Laney kicked a penalty to put the Scots back in front but Jones' penalty edged Wales ahead 19-18 with 17 minutes to go.  The lead changed again six minutes from the end when Laney kicked between the posts from 35 meters and Scotland led 21-19.

But the Welsh struck back with two minutes left on the clock -- Scotland prop Tom Smith penalised for handling in ruck to enable Jones to kick his fifth penalty.

The game was in injury time when a Welshman was adjudged to have handled in a ruck and Laney kicked his fourth penalty.  The fullback was to play no further part in proceedings after leaving the field with a knee injury, but his replacement, Duncan Hodge, kicked another penalty for the last score of the game to secure a Scottish victory.

Man of the match:  Scott Murray
Scotland hooker Gordon Bulloch showed great determination to score both of his side's tries, but it was Scott Murray who had the most influence on proceedings.  The second row's lineout performance was absolutely outstanding throughout, securing plentiful possession for his own side and making life thoroughly miserable for the opposition on their own throw.

Moment of the match:  Rhys Williams' try
Iestyn Harris has had his critics since his switch from Rugby League to the more claustrophobic world of Union, but the Cardiff pivot had an almost immediate impact on proceedings following his half-time introduction, showing his devastating one-on-one rugby skill to shrug off a tackle from John Leslie before supplying a deft, pinpoint pass to a grateful Williams who streaked in under the posts for the touchdown.

Villain of the match: 
There may be little room for sentiment in the professional game, but surely Wales coach Steve Hansen could have allowed Rob Howley to go the distance in his last outing in the Welsh jersey.  Instead, the scrum-half faced an ignominious exit in the 66th minute when the game was still hanging in the balance and his vast experience could have helped the Welsh cause.

Referee:  Joel Jutge (France)
Touch judges:  Alan Lewis (Ireland) and Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Wales:  1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Barry Williams, 3 Chris Anthony, 4 Ian Gough, 5 Andrew Moore, 6 Nathan Budgett, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Colin Charvis (c), 9 Rob Howley, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Craig Morgan, 12 Andy Marinos, 13 Mark Taylor, 14 Rhys Williams, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves:  Iestyn Harris, Dwayne Peel, Gavin Thomas, Dafydd James, Spencer John, Robin McBryde, Chris Wyatt

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Scott Murray, 5 Jason White, 6 Budge Pountney, 7 Martin Leslie, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath (c), 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Kenny Logan, 12 John Leslie, 13 James McLaren, 14 Chris Paterson, 15 Brendan Laney
Reserves:  Richard Metcalfe, Jon Petrie, George Graham, Stuart Grimes, Duncan Hodge, Robbie Russell
Unused:  Graeme Beveridge

Referee:  Jutge j.

Points Scorers

Wales
Tries:  Williams G.R. 1
Conv:  Jones S.M. 1
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 5

Scotland
Tries:  Bulloch G.C. 2
Conv:  Laney B.J. 1
Pen K.:  Laney B.J. 4, Hodge D.W. 1