Scotland held on to secure a narrow 14-10 win against Wales as the two sides kicked off the 2020 Six Nations Super Saturday.
On his Six Nations return, Finn Russell struck Scotland into an early lead, but the mercurial fly-half worryingly limped off just after the half hour.
A pushover try from prop Rhys Carre with Dan Biggar converting then put the hosts in front before Adam Hastings narrowed the gap on the bring of half-time, 7-6.
An unconverted Stuart McInally try after the restart put the visitors back in front before a Leigh Halfpenny penalty reduced the deficit to just a point, setting up a grandstand finish, 10-11.
However, despite Wales best efforts, Stuart Hogg put the icing on the cake with another late penalty
RUCK’S MAN OF THE MATCH: JAMIE RITCHIE (SCOTLAND)
Enhanced his British and Irish Lions chances with a monumental man-of-the-match display. Went about his work quietly, which isn’t perhaps what we’ve come to expect. It’s no wonder Sir Ian McGeechan has tipped him to start for the Lions XV next summer.
STATS ZONE
- Most tackles: Shane Lewis-Hughes (Wales) – 14
- Most missed tackles: Jonathan Davies (Wales) – 3
- Most carries: Josh Adams (Wales) – 7
- Most metres: Stuart Hogg (Scotland) – 80
- Most defenders beaten: Stuart Hogg (Scotland) – 4
- Turnovers conceded: Darcy Graham (Scotland) – 4
EDITORS PICKS:
- 5 retired rugby players who are in the shape of their life
- Piers Morgan has selected his all-time greatest XV
- Lawrence Dallaglio select his 2021 British Lions XV
- Warren Gatland names his 11 ‘certainties’ for 2021 Lions XV
STAR PLAYERS:
Shane Lewis-Hughes (Wales): The debutant was industrious throughout, making a match high 15 tackles. A very exciting prospect.
Alun Wyn Jones (Wales) – The record man, overtaking Richie McCaw at the head of Test rugby’s appearance chart. He was involved with everything throughout and was there at the end, trying to lift his side.
UNDERPERFORMERS:
Darcy Graham (Scotland) – The speedster made a bad habit of losing his support and coughing up turnovers, conceding four throughout the match.
Jonathan Davies (Wales) – A shadow of his former self, the Lions legend missed four tackles and made just seven metres with the ball in hand from his five carries. Anonymous.
Liam Williams (Wales) – Similar to George North last week, he didn’t get his hands on the ball until the second half. For just his third game of 2020 he didn’t look too bad, but fans will expect more.
Wales vs Scotland player ratings
Wales: Leigh Halfpenny 7, Liam Williams 4, Jonathan Davies 4, Owen Watkin 7, Josh Adams 6, Dan Biggar 6, Gareth Davies 7, Taulupe Faletau 6, James Davies 6, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes 7.5, Alun Wyn Jones (c) 7.5, Will Rowlands 6, Tomas Francis 6, Ryan Elias 7, Rhys Carre 7
Scotland: Stuart Hogg (c) 7, Darcy Graham 5, Chris Harris 6, James Lang 6, Blair Kinghorn 6, Finn Russell 6, Ali Price 6, Blade Thomson 6, Hamish Watson 7, Jamie Ritchie 8.5, Jonny Gray 7, Scott Cummings 8, Zander Fagerson 8, Fraser Brown 7, Rory Sutherland 7
LIST | Six Nations wives and girlfriends won’t be allowed to attend games
Find out who some of the equally talented wives and girlfriends of the 2020 Six Nations are after it was confirmed they WILL NOT be able to attend the final round of fixtures.
1. Alun Wyn Jones (Wales) – Dr Anwen Jones
Wife of Welsh stalwart Alun Wyn-Jones and mum to their beautiful daughter, Anwen is a lecturer at Cardiff’s Metropolitan University, where she’s a Welsh medium physiology and health lecturer. Clever and sporty, she is a former 400m hurdler and was Welsh champion from 2000-2007.