Wales' losing streak extends to 16 after Six Nations defeat to Scotland

Wales were made to count the cost of a shambolic first 60 minutes after Scotland claimed a 35-29 victory in the Six Nations on Saturday.

After the improvement against Ireland, this was a step backwards from the Welsh, who were overwhelmed by an impressive Scottish team in the opening hour.

The result was effectively confirmed at the break as Tom Jordan’s double, allied by further scores by Blair Kinghorn and Darcy Graham, moved them 28-8 ahead going into the second period.

Blair Murray responded for the visitors in the opening period, while Ben Thomas, Teddy Williams and Max Llewellyn also touched down in the second half to rescue two bonus-points, but Blair Kinghorn sealed his brace to make sure of a victory for the hosts.

It moved Scotland up to third in the Six Nations table ― for the time being at least ― and within an outside chance of the title going into the final weekend, but this game mostly served as an opportunity for redemption after the England disappointment.

As for the Welsh, credit must be given for their response in the final 20 minutes, which gave them tangible reward for their efforts, but they were outclassed for the most part.

Hopes were high that Wales could finally end their barren streak and, after they earned an early penalty, which Gareth Anscombe converted, eyebrows would have been raised further, but it proved to be a rather chastening first 60 minutes for the visitors.

Matt Sherratt’s men were ripped apart time and time again, with the opening try showing just how fallible this team still is as Kinghorn shrugged off a couple of tackles to touch down.

Scotland, after their immensely frustrating defeat to England, were also fired up and played some outstanding rugby.  Gregor Townsend’s side moved the ball so well at Twickenham two weeks ago and once again they found gaps in the opposition defence.

That was demonstrated by their second try as a sweeping move from right to left saw Duhan van der Merwe send Huw Jones free down the left.  The centre then drew the final defender and sent Jordan over the line to open up a 14-3 lead.

Wales’ only real bright spark was New Zealand-born Murray and the livewire back latched on to Anscombe’s smart chip kick to get them back in the contest.

However, that Welsh delight was only brief as the Scots reasserted their authority and went over for the third time.  On this occasion it was Graham who scored but the wing was indebted to Finn Russell after the fly-half dummied and sent him through a hole to touch down.

A fourth try ― and thus the bonus-point ― was soon forthcoming when Jordan completed his brace for a 20-point lead at the break.

Although Wales mounted a remarkable comeback last year and almost snatched an unlikely win, Scotland effectively had the game wrapped up six minutes into the second period.

Townsend’s team once again dominated the physical exchanges and stressed Wales’ defence, which opened the space for Kinghorn to race through a large gap and cross the whitewash.

To Wales’ credit, however, they continued to work hard and they got their reward in the final quarter with two tries for Thomas and Teddy Williams.

It could have been a third in quick succession when Taulupe Faletau touched down ― which certainly would have made Scotland fans nervous ― but it was controversially ruled out for Murray ‘jumping over a tackle’ in the build-up.

That ended any faint hopes of a fightback, although the Welshmen did get a final score with the clock in the red when Llewellyn crossed, giving them two bonus-points.

The teams

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Gregor Brown, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Stafford McDowall, 23 Kyle Rowe

Wales:  15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Jac Morgan (c), 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Dewi Lake, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Joe Roberts

Referee:  Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees:  Nic Berry (Australia), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)

Fantastic France thump Ireland despite Antoine Dupont injury as Simon Easterby's side suffer massive blow in search for historic Six Nations three-peat

France turned the 2025 Six Nations on its head as they produced a stunning display to hammer Ireland 42-27 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Much of the talk beforehand was about Fabien Galthie’s decision to go with a 7-1 split on the bench, but the decision paid off despite seeing their star man Antoine Dupont limp off in the first half and end with a forward in the backline after Pierre-Louis Barassi suffered a head injury.

Maxime Lucu came on for Dupont and was utterly magnificent as Les Bleus built on an 8-6 half-time lead given to them by Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s try and Thomas Ramos’ penalty.

Ireland had actually gone ahead after the break through Dan Sheehan, whose try followed two first-half three-pointers by Sam Prendergast, but the visitors would go on to thrash Simon Easterby’s charges.

They played some superb rugby at times and further tries from Paul Boudehent, Bielle-Biarrey, Oscar Jegou and Damian Penaud took them to a potentially defining Six Nations success.

France moved to the top of the table and, providing they beat Scotland next weekend, will end Ireland’s chances of claiming an unprecedented three-peat.

It was always going to be a brutal encounter and the opening quarter set the tone for the match as both teams went into contact viciously.

Ireland dominated the opening 20 minutes as they kept the French guessing with their dexterity with ball in hand.  Les Bleus did not help themselves by conceding a series of penalties, but the hosts were putting them under severe duress.

Somehow Galthie’s men managed to survive the onslaught with some incredible last-ditch defence and that proved crucial in the end result.

France eventually managed to edge themselves into the contest and, after having a try ruled out for a knock-on following a turnover, they opened the scoring minutes later.

It started with Thomas Ramos and Bielle-Biarrey linking up down the left-hand side before the wing chipped over the top.  Although Robbie Henshaw was there to clean up, earlier in the move Joe McCarthy cynically pulled Ramos back and was duly sin-binned.

With the lock off the field, the visitors took advantage as they mauled towards the line before Dupont spotted space out wide and Bielle-Biarrey was on hand to touch down.

However, the away side suffered what seemed like a huge blow when their talisman was taken off with a serious-looking injury after Tadhg Beirne landed on his leg.

Officials have clamped down on those type of acts over the past couple of years but not this time as it was deemed to have been an accidental collision.

Ireland would take advantage of that let-off as Prendergast’s two penalties to Ramos’ one kept them in the game at the interval.

They then moved ahead as Sheehan’s score from a dominant drive gave the hosts a 13-8 advantage, but from thereon in it was all about Galthie’s side.

The French were utterly magnificent and responded immediately to that effort from the hooker as a brilliant move resulted in Boudehent crossing the whitewash.

In that same attack, Calvin Nash took Barassi high and it resulted in a yellow card for the winger.

France would once again take advantage of the extra man when Penaud instigated a counter-attack and found Bielle-Biarrey on the left.  The youngster still had loads to do but, of course, the special talent found a way, kicking ahead and touching down.

At that point, Ireland were still just about in the game but the fresh French forwards were doing their job and another infringement enabled Ramos to extend the lead from the tee.

All the momentum was with the visitors and their ‘Bomb Squad’ made the desired impact as Jegou touched down from close range.

That was well and truly game over, with Ireland’s Grand Slam dreams fading, but they still wanted to really rubberstamp the win and that came through Penaud, despite a couple of late scores via Cian Healy and Jack Conan.

The teams

Ireland:  15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jamie Osborne, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Calvin Nash, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 James Ryan, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Ryan Baird, 22 Conor Murray, 23 Jack Crowley

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Emmanuel Meafou, 20 Hugo Auradou, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Anthony Jelonch, 23 Maxime Lucu

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Christophe Ridley (England)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (England)