England and Scotland draw Calcutta Cup thriller

A late George Ford converted try denied Scotland a famous come-from-behind Calcutta Cup win at Twickenham in a contest that finished 38-38.

It was a quite stunning 80 minutes on Saturday as the Scots appeared to have done the unthinkable when they came back from 31-0 down to go 38-31 in front with four minutes remaining on the match clock.  But with time up in the clash, Ford had other ideas to save English blushes.

England‘s other try scorers were Jack Nowell, Tom Curry, Joe Launchbury and Jonny May while for Scotland Stuart McInally, Darcy Graham (2), Magnus Bradbury, Finn Russell and Sam Johnson crossed in a match high on entertainment, bringing down 2019’s Six Nations curtain in style.

England were rampant from the off and raced into that big lead after half-an-hour courtesy of five crossings as Scotland were on the ropes.

They got the ball rolling with one minute played when slick handling and decoy runners allowed Henry Slade room to feed Nowell who finished well, cutting back inside off the right wing nicely.  Owen Farrell added the conversion and it wouldn’t be long before the tee was on again.

Their second came seven minutes later as a penalty nudged into the corner led to Curry burrowing over from a line-out rush to make it 14-0.

England were motoring and the only negative from the early stages was an injury to Ben Moon that saw him replaced by Ellis Genge.  The prop was immediately into the action and his carry and combination with fellow front-row Kyle Sinckler created Launchbury’s score on 14 minutes.

Farrell would then add a penalty to his conversion on 25 minutes as the lead was stretched to 24 points before a quickly taken penalty saw Slade race down the left wing before throwing a lovely inside pass to May who finished with ease.  Scotland looked in danger of a hammering.

Fortunately for Gregor Townsend’s men they would get on the board before half-time when McInally showed good pace to cross from 60 metres, this after he charged down Farrell’s attempted cross-kick.  The busy hooker intelligently changed his angle of running to get over in time.

Crucially for Scotland’s hopes of a revival they also scored first after the break when Graham finished well for 31-12 after good handling.  That was added to when Bradbury raced over on 51 minutes as suddenly Scotland had pulled themselves back into the match at just 31-19 down.

Indeed the match had now turned on its head at Twickenham and when the lively Graham raced over on 57 minutes on the right wing, Scotland had themselves a try bonus point to their name as it was now the English who were reeling, with head coach Eddie Jones stunned in his seat.

Amazingly, the game was tied at 31-31 on the hour when Russell intercepted Farrell’s loose pass before running under the posts from distance and the stunning comeback looked to be complete on 76 minutes, Johnson bouncing off would-be tacklers en route to the line for a 38-31 lead.

But England somehow managed to pick themselves up off the canvas and Ford’s last ditch try salvaged a draw to end an unbelievable meeting.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Nowell, Curry, Launchbury, May, Ford
Cons:  Farrell 4, Ford
Pen:  Farrell

For Scotland:
Tries:  McInally, Graham 2, Bradbury, Russell, Johnson
Cons:  Russell 2, Laidlaw 2

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 George Kruis, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ben Moon
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Brad Shields, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 George Ford, 23 Ben Te’o

Scotland:  15 Sean Maitland, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Sam Skinner, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Chris Harris

Referee:  Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Wonderful Wales thrash Ireland to claim Grand Slam

Wales secured their third Grand Slam under the stewardship of Warren Gatland following an outstanding 25-7 triumph over Ireland at the Principality Stadium.

Saving their best performance for the final game, they were magnificent, opening up an early 7-0 advantage through Hadleigh Parkes’ try, before Gareth Anscombe carried on their good work by kicking three penalties for a 16-0 lead.

In contrast, Joe Schmidt’s team were abysmal.  Ill-disciplined and lacking any creativity, they never particularly looked like breaching the hosts’ stout defence.  Instead, it was the Welsh that looked assured in difficult conditions and Anscombe added three more three-pointers to complete a wonderful campaign.

Their winning streak now stands at 14 and it was the ideal way to mark Gatland’s final Six Nations game in charge, while they have very much put themselves in the World Cup mix.

In their three previous Grand Slam campaigns, Wales have been at home in the final match and they once again used the energy of the crowd to put the visitors under immediate pressure.

Gatland’s outfit were on the front foot in the opening minute, winning a lineout on the opposition 22 and forcing the away side to infringe.  From the penalty advantage, Anscombe’s trademark chip over the top was well collected by Parkes and the hosts already held a seven-point buffer.

Ireland immediately looked to respond, testing the Welsh defence with some neat kicks, and Johnny Sexton almost caught them out by finding Jacob Stockdale out wide.  However, that man Parkes, who has been outstanding over the past couple of games, was aware of the danger and put last season’s championship top-scorer into touch.

Buoyed by the centre’s superb effort, Wales upped the intensity once more and another Irish infringement allowed Anscombe to make it 10-0.

Schmidt’s men were struggling and they were evidently rattled.  As a result, they continued to make mistakes and the hosts’ kicker was on hand to punish any indiscretion, moving them 16-0 ahead at the interval.

Even at half-time, the champagne was on ice and it got even better for Gatland’s charges as Anscombe extended their lead at the start of the second period.

It was a brilliant display in tough conditions and Ireland had no answer to their opponents’ excellence.  Although it may not have been pretty, the weather dictated that and the forwards did their jobs superbly, regularly forcing the visitors into reverse.

They duly gave Anscombe opportunities off the tee and the Cardiff Blues man was in no mood to miss, adding two more for an insurmountable lead.

Ireland battled to get something from the contest and Jordan Larmour did go over, but it didn’t dampen Wales’ spirits, who never faltered and deservedly claimed another Grand Slam under Gatland.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  Parkes
Con:  Anscombe
Pens:  Anscombe 6

For Ireland:
Try: Larmour
Con:  Carty

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Owen Watkin

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Jordan Larmour

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

France end campaign on a high after beating Italy

France finished their Six Nations campaign on a high courtesy of a hard-fought 25-14 win over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday.

In a tightly contested affair, momentum between the sides ebbed and flowed but it was France who got the rub of the green in the end as they outscored the Azzurri by three tries to one.

The result was in the balance until the game’s dying moments but a try from Damian Penaud secured the win for Les Bleus after Italy wasted try-scoring opportunities at the other end just before that.

The victory is France’s second of the tournament while Italy finish winless for the fourth successive year and extend their drought in the Six Nations to 22 matches.

Italy dominated the early exchanges and raced into a 6-0 lead after Tommaso Allan succeeded with two penalties.

France were slowly getting into the game and in the 16th minute Penaud gathered a pass from Maxime Medard close to the halfway line before setting off on a brilliant run down the right-hand touchline.  He cut infield and beat Tito Tebaldi with deft footwork before offloading to Antoine Dupont, who went over for the opening try.

Romain Ntamack slotted the conversion which gave his side a 7-5 lead but Les Bleus were dealt a blow shortly afterwards when their captain, Guilhem Guirado, was forced off the field with a rib injury.

Despite that setback, France still held the upper-hand and midway through the half Ntamack extended their lead via another penalty after Andrea Lovotti slowed the ball down illegally at a ruck.

Italy were soon camped inside Les Bleus’ 22, however, and in the 24th minute Allan stabbed through a well-weighted grubber kick which caught the French defence by surprise.  Marco Zanon gave chase but the ball bounced off the padding of an upright and the debutant centre knocked on.

Two minutes later, the Azzurri were denied again when Braam Steyn went over the whitewash under a mass of bodies, but television replays were inconclusive whether he grounded the ball.

It was all Italy during the rest of the half but despite spending most of the closing stages on the attack inside France’s half, they could not add to their points tally and the teams changed sides at the interval with Les Bleus holding a slender 10-6 lead.

Italy continued the second half like they finished off the first and in the 42nd minute Allan added another penalty after Yacouba Camara infringed at a ruck.

The visitors regained the initiative, however, and they did so in style courtesy of a brilliant try from Yoann Huget.  This, after France’s forwards laid the groundwork with some strong carries.  A long pass from Ntamack was gathered by Medard, who offloaded to Huget and the winger did well to outpace the cover defence on his way over the try-line.

Ntamack’s conversion was successful which gave the visitors some breathing space with the score 17-9 in their favour.  Italy had an opportunity to narrow the gap in the 49th minute, when France strayed offside on defence but Allan’s was off target with his penalty attempt.

The Azzurri put that miss behind them and five minutes later Tebaldi crossed the whitewash from close quarters after an extended period in Les Bleus’ 22.  Allan’s conversion attempt was wide of the mark but with the home side trailing by just three points, they were back in the match and continued to attack.

France needed a response and that came in the 63rd minute when Ntamack landed a drop goal from inside Italy’s 22 after Camille Chat did well in the build-up with a strong carry.

The next 10 minutes was a frantic affair as Italy launched several attacks in a bid to narrow the gap.  In the 66th minute, Tebaldi thought he was over for his second try but his effort was disallowed after he lost the ball forward before regathering and dotting down.

In the 72nd minute, Les Bleus suffered a setback when Chat halted a maul illegally from Italy close to his try-line and he was sent to the sin bin for his efforts.

With a numerical advantage, Italy dominated proceedings but in the 75th minute Zanon blew the chance to score his side’s second try when he had the ball knocked from his grasp while crossing the try-line.

The tackle was made Penaud, who finished the game as Les Bleus’ hero when he gathered a pass from Ntamack before racing away to score the try which sealed his side’s win.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Tebaldi
Pens:  Allan 3

For France:
Tries:  Dupont, Huget, Penaud
Cons:  Ntamack 2
Pen:  Ntamack
Drop goal:  Ntamack
Yellow Card:  Chat

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Marco Zanon, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Abraham Jurgens Steyn, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 David Sisi, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Cherif Traore’, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Sebastian Negri, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Luca Sperandio

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Gregory Alldritt, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Demba Bamba, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Etienne Falgoux
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Arthur Iturria, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Camille Lopez, 23 Thomas Ramos

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Ireland beat France to set up Wales showdown

Ireland will go into the final round with an outside chance of claiming the Six Nations title following a dominant 26-14 triumph over France at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday.

The Emerald Isle are currently third in the table, two points below leaders Wales, and they will have to beat Warren Gatland’s side and hope that England fail to win against Scotland for them to defend their championship.

Joe Schmidt’s men prepared well for their gargantuan contest next week, however.  They combined physicality with some nice touches with ball in hand against Les Bleus to score three tries and go into the break 19-0 in front.

Rory Best, Johnny Sexton and replacement Jack Conan all touched down as they effectively ended the game as a contest in the opening 40 minutes.

Keith Earls then sealed the bonus-point in the third quarter to secure the win and complete a miserable day for the French, despite Yoann Huget’s and Camille Chat’s late consolation efforts.

It was another abysmal display from Les Bleus as a slack defence made it all too easy for the hosts to get over the gain line.  CJ Stander and Tadhg Furlong needed no invitation and the visitors were consistently sent into reverse.

Those facets were all in evidence with the opening try when they set up a maul and powered towards the whitewash.  The result was inevitable and Best splintered off to touch down for an early 7-0 advantage.

The hosts were impressive but no one was taking responsibility for France.  Antoine Dupont, so spritely and confident against Scotland, was indecisive and his lack of control almost cost them a try, only for Cian Healy to let them off with a knock on.

Ireland were not to be denied, however, and a trademark Sexton wraparound saw the visitors take the bait.  Huget and Gael Fickou rather comically collided and the home side’s fly-half simply touched down by the right-hand upright.

At 14-0 down, it was already an uphill battle, particularly with Jacques Brunel’s charges showing few signs of creating anything of note.  Ireland were dominant aerially and in the kicking game, and the pressure resulted in a number of errors from the visitors.

Another turnover in their own 22 saw Les Bleus cede possession once again and Conan barrelled his way over for a 19-0 lead at the break.

France were slightly better in the early stages of the second half, winning a couple of penalties and taking play well into the opposition half, but their attack was stagnant and a swarming Irish defence halted any potential threat.

Instead, Ireland turned over the ball and exposed the French’s poor organisation in backfield.  A period of play in the away team’s 22 ensued before a lovely set-piece move resulted in Earls scampering clear to confirm the bonus-point.

It was well and truly game over, but the French did manage to avoid suffering any further embarrassment as Huget and Chat went over late on.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Best, Sexton, Conan, Earls
Cons:  Sexton 3

For France:
Tries:  Huget, Chat
Cons:  Serin 2
Yellow Card:  Aldegheri

Ireland:  15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Jack Conan, 21 John Cooney, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Andrew Conway

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Arthur Iturria, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Felix Lambey, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Demba Bamba, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Paul Willemse, 20 Gregory Alldritt, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Maxime Medard

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

England put 50 past hapless Italy

England returned to the victory trail in the Six Nations when they claimed a 57-14 bonus-point win over Italy at Twickenham on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a one-sided affair with England dominating most facets of play and they eventually outscored their visitors by eight tries to two with Manu Tuilagi and Brad Shields crossing for a brace apiece.

The result means England are still in second position in the standings but they have narrowed the gap to a point behind table-toppers Wales, who beat Scotland earlier on Saturday.

England made their intentions known from the outset by running the ball from all areas of the field and they were soon camped inside the Azzurri’s half.  In the eighth minute, Jamie George opened the scoring when he barged over off the back of a driving maul deep inside Italy’s 22.

That try did not deter the visitors, who also gave the ball plenty of air, and they opened their account shortly afterwards.  This, courtesy of a fine try from Tommaso Allan, who spotted a gap in the English defence before selling Joe Cokanasiga an outrageous dummy on his way over the try-line.

Allan dusted himself off and added the conversion from close to the touchline, which meant the sides were level at 7-7 after 15 minutes.

But that would be the last time Italy would add points during the half as England scored three further tries which secured them a try-scoring bonus point before the interval.

First, Elliot Daly made a superb line break before offloading to Jonny May, who cantered in for his fifth try of the tournament.  Then, midway through the half, Tuilagi’s power and speed proved too much for his opponents as he set off on a barnstorming run from the halfway line before scoring his side’s third five-pointer.

Owen Farrell added the extras before slotting a penalty which gave his side a comfortable 24-7 lead by the 26th minute.

And in the 32nd minute, Shields ran onto a pass from Tuilagi and outpaced the cover defence on his way over the try-line to notch his first Test try.

Farrell succeeded with his fourth conversion and England were cruising as the teams changed sides at half-time.

The home side’s dominance continued during the early stages of the second of half and Tuilagi was rewarded with his second try in the 47th minute after forwards and backs combined in the build-up.

Despite being comprehensively outplayed, Italy did not surrender and in the 55th minute Luca Morisi gathered a long pass from Allan before diving over in the left-hand corner.

But just like the first half, the Azzurri could not build momentum after scoring points and England regained the initiative with further tries from George Kruis and Dan Robson which gave them a 50-14 lead by the 69th minute.

And just before the end, Kruis charged down an attempted clearance from Tito Tebaldi before Shields regathered the loose ball to cross for his second try which sealed an emphatic win for England.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  George, May, Tuilagi 2, Shields 2, Kruis, Robson
Cons:  Farrell 4, Ford 3
Pen:  Farrell

For Italy:
Tries:  Allan, Morisi
Cons:  Allan 2

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Brad Shields, 5 George Kruis, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nathan Hughes, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Dan Robson, 22 George Ford, 23 Henry Slade

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Braam Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Federico Ruzza, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 David Sisi, 20 Jake Polledri, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Tommaso Castello

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Paul Williams (New Zealand), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Wales grind past plucky Scotland

Wales consolidated their position at the top of the Six Nations standings courtesy of a hard-fought 18-11 win over Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

In an attritional affair, characterised by several massive hits and constant physicality, both sides deserve plenty of credit for making this the entertaining spectacle that it was and the result was in the balance until the game’s closing stages.

If truth be told, this was a game of two halves with Wales dominating proceedings during the opening stanza but a different Scotland came out of the changing room and dominated the second half.

But in the end, Wales held on for the win – their 13th successive one – and will play for the Grand Slam against Ireland in Cardiff next weekend.

The match started at a frenetic pace and Scotland eventually opened the scoring in the 11th minute courtesy of a Finn Russell penalty after Josh Navidi infringed at a lineout.

That lead did not last long as two minutes later, Wales struck back with a superb try.  This, after Jonathan Davies got a pass out to Josh Adams down the left-hand and, although the flyer still had plenty of work to do, he did brilliantly to beat Blair Kinghorn with deft footwork before crossing the whitewash.

Gareth Anscombe slotted the conversion but Scotland were soon on the attack deep inside the visitors’ half thanks to a mazy run from Darcy Graham in which he beat five defenders.

Despite Graham’s brilliance on attack, Scotland were not rewarded with a try but had to settle for another penalty from Russell which meant the match was evenly poised with Wales holding a slender 7-6 lead.

The game’s intensity levels were incredibly high and Scotland came off second best in most of the collisions.  They lost Jamie Ritchie to a HIA, although he later returned to the field, while Tommy Seymour was forced off with a rib injury and Blair Kinghorn hobbled off with an ankle knock – all by the half-hour mark.

Ritchie was replaced by Hamish Watson but he too had to leave the field with a blood injury with back-up hooker Fraser Brown Brown taking his place while Wales also lost the services of Adam Beard to a HIA.

Wales continued to control the pace of the game as the half progressed and Anscombe added another penalty in the 25th minute to give his side four-point lead.  And on the half-hour mark, Jonathan Davies crossed for their second try after the ball was taken through 24 phases with Hadleigh Parkes and George North particularly impressive with strong carries in the build-up.

Anscombe converted which gave his side a 15-6 lead and, although there were more pointscoring opportunities for the visitors during the half’s closing stages, they would not add to their tally.

Scotland upped the ante on attack after the restart but, despite several forays into Wales territory during the first 15 minutes of the half, they did not score any points during that period.

The dam wall eventually burst in the 58th minute when Graham went over for a well-worked try.  Russell did brilliantly when he threw an inside pass to Byron McGuigan, after a lineout just inside Wales’ 22.  Although McGuigan still had work to do, he did well to offload to Adam Hastings, who got a pass out to Graham and the winger went over in the right-hand corner.

Russell’s conversion attempt was off target which meant Wales were leading 15-11 but, despite that miss, they were back in the game and continued to attack.

That tactic nearly backfired when, shortly afterwards, Hastings lost possession inside Wales’ half.  Adams booted the ball upfield but, although he regathered, the bounce of the ball forced him wide deep inside Scotland’s 22 and there was no reward for the visitors from that attack.

Scotland launched several further attacks inside Wales’ half over the next 15 minutes but a combination of unforced errors and solid defence from the Welsh kept them at bay.

Wales eventually found themselves on the attack inside Scotland’s 22 during the game’s closing stages and a breakdown infringement from the hosts allowed Anscombe to slot his second penalty which sealed his side’s win.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Graham
Pens:  Russell 2

For Wales:
Tries:  Adams, J Davies
Con:  Anscombe
Pens:  Anscombe 2

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Darcy Graham, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Byron McGuigan

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Owen Watkin

Referee:  Pascal Gauzere (France)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)