Key events
31 min: No yellow card. But they have the pen bang in front of the poles. Sense prevails and they point to the poles from bang in front.
30 min: Costelow finds Rees-Zammit on the blind run and he makes ground. 12 phases. They’re a metre short. Williams sends it right to Lake. Penalty advantage. Nothing doing so they come back for the advantage but is this a yellow card?
28 min: Penalty on the floor for Wales! Botham over the ball after Wales put Scotland under pressure with a lovely raking kick that compelled them to counter from deep. All going the way. of the home side. My word, is this the day Welsh rugby turned around and held their own again? They have a line-out on Scotland’s 22 after that touch finder.
26 min: From that halfway scrum, Scotland have inched their way forward. Jones burst through a half gap and stitched an off load for Tuipulotu. Duhan comes off his wing and makes some ground himself. 15 phases and they’re up to the Welsh 22. But there’s a spill in contact and the move fizzles to nought.
22 min: Can’t express how impressive Wales have been. Another slcik line-out routine inside their own half, following the Scottish restart, provides Costelow with enough space to secure possession. A little chip and chase from James from midfield almost wins the ball back. There’s a Scottish knock-on so Wales have the scrum on halfway. Williams flings a forward pass from the scrum, though it was tight. Still, Wales have rightly earned this lead a quarter of a way through the Test.
TRY! Wales 14-5 Scotland (Adams, 20)
That is quality from Wales! Just relentless ball retention. Souble digit phases. Started with Lake busting over the gainline through the tight channel, it ends with Adams running onto a flat pass down the left wing – flung quickly by Costelow who is having a great game – as he beats the edge and rounds the corner to score. The extra two points are added and – do not adjust your TV – Wales are comfortably in the lead!
19 min: Nine phases and Wales are within seven metres of the Scottish line. That started with Lake monstering over the gainline. They’re looking good here…
17 min: Costelow lands a lovely raking kick in Scotland’s corner. It’ll be a Scottish throw, but it’s pinned them down there. The exit is good though as White hoofs a tasty box that finds touch over his 22.
TRY! Wales 7-5 Scotland (Steyn, 14)
Clinical! Off the line-out on the left, Scotland just give it hands. Russell fires the pass, it’s shovelled one, Rees-Zammit is sucked in on defence and by the time it reaches Steyn it’s game over. Credit to Tuipulotu for holding his pass before giving it to Russell on the loop, and to Kinghorn who joined the line and straightened the attack.
Excellent first phase strike play.
Not so much from Russell who can’t convert from the right tram.
13 min: Hawkins will return after his brief hiatus as his yellow card isn’t upgraded. Correct decision. He wasn’t moving towards the contact and should be given the benefit of the doubt.
Meanwhile, Scotland have the ball on the 22 after a line-out.
13 min: Scotland come roaring back. Steyn is hammered inside Wales’ 22 on the left wing. They keep the ball alive and have runners forming under the shade of the Welsh poles but the home side pinch a turnover on the floor. Wow, are Wales on one here?
Reader Chris Healy gets it:
The red shirts of Wales, the blue of Scotland and a beautiful green pitch. Does rugby ever look more visually stunning than at the start of this fixture?
It’s beautiful.
TRY! Wales 7-0 Scotland (Carre, 10)
Dreamland for Wales! It’s only 10 minutes in but tell you what, they deserve that! Minutes ago, nay, seconds ago, they were inside their own 22. But they stole an intercept, pinched a line-out, won a breakdown penalty and found themselves tapping and going inside Scotland’s red zone. Carre was given the ball and he burrowed over from close range. The extras are added and Wales take a surprising lead.
9 min: Penalty for Wales five metres from Scotland’s line. They tap and go….
9 min: What a turnaround this is. Wales were defending their own lione but after an intercept, a stolen line-out and a penalty on the floor they’re nattacking inside Scotland’s 22.
7 min: Wales survive! Steyn looked certain to score as Scotland teed up a lovely set piece off the line-out inside Wales’ 22 on the right. Russell stood the ball up before delaying the pass for Steyn running in off his wing. Then they recycled it and perhaps rushed it in their eagerness to fling it down the line to the left wing. Adams was quickly onto it and snaffled the intercept inside his own red zone. The clearing kick finds touch and then Wales pinched the line-out and then won a penalty…
Yellow card! Wales (Hawkins, 5)
No doubt. He was high. Head on head. I’d be surprised if its upgraded as he was standing up, rather than moving into contact. Still, he caught Brown high and Wales are down to 14.
5 min: Oh! Jones almost wriggles through down the right. Slick from Scotland off the set piece. Short passes between the backs before its fired to Jones on the gallop from midfield. He runs out of room and is bundled out of touch on the right.
But they’re having a look at a shoulder hit on Brown. Could be q yellow card…
5 min: Scotland, from the line-out, inch their way upfield. But they lose possession. That is, until they get the ball back as Wales commit another infringement on the floor, giving away a penalty. Russell kicks it downtown and hands Cherry the chance to throw to the line on Wales’ 22.
3 min: Hamer-Webb has to leave the field three minutes into his debut as he has a nose that is leaking blood. That was a strange one. He wasn;t in contact but still caught a stray arm from a Scott. That nose won’t stop bleeding so he’s off to receive some treatment. Murray on for the time being.
2 min: Wales win a line-out around halfway and get James on the ball and over the gainline from midfield. A strong carry from Adams has them over the 22. Wainwright has in the left tram. Good start from Wales. But then they cough up a penalty for holding onto the ball on the floor. Carre the guilty party and Russell hoofs it clear.
AWAY WE GO! Wales kick off and Scotland secure the ball…
Forgot to mention that 25-year-old Gabriel Hamer-Webb is making his Test debut for Wales on the wing.
Hope he goes well.
Right then. Almost ready for kick-off. Scotland in blue. Wales in red. A stunning venue. Loads of pride on the line. It doesn’t get better than this, does it?!
Yes, we know the team is struggling, but the Principality Stadium looks incredible!
If you are a rugby fan and you’ve not visited this cathedral, get your accountant on the line and book yourself a trip.
The whole thing is amazing. St Mary Street. The songs. The pubs. The daffodils. The closed rood. It’s amazing.
Speaking of, time for the anthems. Two of the best in our sport.
We’ve got out first correspondence for the afternoon:
This is from Matthew Dony:
I am not a confident Welsh fan. There are so many issues at the moment, it’s hard to know where to start. The WRU is spectacularly badly run. We were fortunate to have a couple of generations of genuinely World Class players between the mid 00’s and 2020ish, and considering the resources available, population, player base etc, that was always likely to drop off at some point. But I don’t think anyone expected the drop-off to be quite so drastic. We kept being told that it was a young side who would gained experience and improve. But that’s been a stuck record for 4 years or so. There’s no identity to the team. When you watch them, you often cant see what they’re trying to achieve. The basics, the flipping basics(!), are repeatedly falling apart. The first quarter against England was as bad a spell of international rugby as you’re ever likely to see. I don’t know where to go from here. It’s hideous.
Forget the result. I just hope they give you a performance to feel proud of.
Luke McLaughlin heard from Wales’ skipper, Dewi Lake, who has urged the home fans to give his boys a lift:
Scotland’s skipper, Sione Tuipulotu, knows that he can’t take Wales lightly:
I put pressure on the group to be desperate out there and show desperation.
It also makes me a little bit frustrated because the week before we couldn’t against Italy for a lot of reasons. So that feeling is still there for me and I hope it stays with me for the rest of the tournament, because I think it’s needed.
I’m still very desperate. I just know you can’t lose two games in this tournament and think you’re going to be there at the back end for anything.
In order for us to stay in this tournament, we’ve got to be just as desperate, just as emotional, just as clinical as we were last week.
Keen to see how Sam Costelow gets on for Wales at fly-half.
This will be his first start under coach Steve Tandy.
Dan Edwards started the next seven Tests but does not make the matchday squad today.
The Opta Supercomputer has crunched the numbers and the results are in…
Wales have a 12.3% chance of winning. To be fair, I think most Welsh fans would take that.
According to the machine, we can expect a score of Wales 13-36 Scotland.
With England currently getting a pasting from Ireland, Scotland have a golden opportunity to finish in the top two for the first time in Six Nations history.
Of course a lot needs to go their way, let alone the fact that they’d need to beat Ireland – as well as Wales this afternoon. But who could have predicted that England would be out of the running after three rounds?
Point I’m trying to make is that Scotland’s route to a top two spot is shaping up rather nicely.
Scotland team
How do you improve on a team that just stuffed England? Bring in Blair Kinghorn at fullback!
The Tolouse man is fit and ready to let rip from the backfield. In the pack, Townsend has brought in Dave Cherry, Max Williamson and Matt Fagerson in place of George Turner, Jamie Ritchie and Jack Dempsey.
Oh, a certain Duhan van der Merwe also returns to the wing.
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn; 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe; 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White; 1 Nathan McBeth, 2 Dave Cherry, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Max Williamson, 5 Scott Cummings, 6 Gregor Brown, 7 Rory Darge, 8 Matt Fagerson.
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 George Horne, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Darcy Graham.
Wales team
Louis Rees-Zammit starts at fullback while Steve Tandy has made two changes to the pack.
Adam Beard and Olly Cracknell make way for Ben Carter and Taine Plumtree, with Aaron Wainwirght moving from blind-side flanker to his usual spot at No. 8 (where I think he is a superstar).
Wales: 15 Louis Rees-Zammit; 14 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 13 Eddie James, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Josh Adams; 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams; 1 Rhys Carre, 2 Dewi Lake, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 5 Ben Carter, 6 Taine Plumtree, 7 Alex Mann, 8 Aaron Wainwright
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 James Botham, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Blair Murray
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
While hanging out with my five-year-old son in the park this morning, I sparked a conversation with a bloke in a Welsh jersey.
“You’re not shy wearing that,” I said, attempting light banter.
“I’m confident,” he shot back. “Playing Scotland after they beat England is the perfect game for us.”
It got me thinking. The logical part of my brain dismissed this as a mix of Welsh cockiness and Welsh hopefulness. After all, if Scotland had no problem swatting aside England, and England had no problem swatting aside Wales, then wisdom would dictate that this match between the two Celtic nations would be a forgone conclusion.
But rugby doesn’t always deal in logic. International sport often throws convention out the window. And as my day has progressed from the chaos at the park to an impromptu playdate to some much needed TV time with the wee fella, I’ve started buying into the possibility of an unlikely Welsh victory.
Look, it probably won’t happen. Wales are a basket case and Scotland are on a high. But, as we all know, stranger things have happened. Perhaps that Welsh bloke in the playground was right.
We’ll find out together once things kick off in Cardiff at 4:40pm.
If you’re a Welsh fan who shared that confidence (or not) or you’re a Scottish fan who is supremely assured (or not) or you’re just a regular ol’ rugby fan, do write in. I’d love to hear from ya.
Team news and other bits to come.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2026/feb/21/wales-v-scoland-six-nations-rugby-union-live
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