Scotland stops the Welsh comeback and begins its Tournament with a victory in Cardiff

Despite a big air gap in the second period and a huge Welsh comeback, the Scots retained their advantage (27-26) in Cardiff on Saturday.

An unfinished feat. Trailing 27-0 in the 47th minute, Wales began a fantastic comeback against Scotland, before dying by a small point (26-27), Saturday February 3 in Cardiff. Unrecognizable in the first half, the Welsh made a magnificent comeback and came close to a memorable performance. But the XV du Chardon, in agony for half an hour, escaped and launched its Tournament with a victory. Wales console themselves meagerly with a double bonus, defensive and offensive.

Did they think the matter was done when, on a new ride, Duhan van der Merwe flattened in the middle of an apathetic Welsh defense (43rd, 0-27)? Any outcome other than a large Scottish victory then looked like a pipe dream, given the domination of Finn Russell and others in a one-sided first act. Perfectly back in the game, they quickly took matters into their own hands with a try from Pierre Schoeman upwind (11th, 0-10) imitated by, already, Van der Merwe, perfectly served by Russell (30th, 0-20).

It was almost too easy for these Scots, perfectly organized and helped by the apathy of the Welsh. Only by having nothing much to fear – nor to hope – that they have finally woken up. And since salvation often comes through simple things, the Welsh regained hope up front, with two conquering balloons carried. One, concluded by James Botham (47th, 5-27), had no other ambition than to avoid the humiliating fanny at home. The other, by replacement Alex Mann (68th, 26-27), finished convincing the public that the comeback they had never dared to imagine was underway.

Scotland will need to be more consistent against the Blues

In the meantime, the far-fetched hypothesis had been accredited by the restless Rio Dyer at the end of the line (53rd, 12-27) and the hyperactive Aaron Wainwright (61st, 19-27) at the foot of a ruck, in a Principality Stadium roaring, to whom the Blues would do well not to leave hope when they come on March 10. Wales, with a new hinge, then alternated between the sublime and the chaos, in a chaos that the deserter Louis Rees-Zammit would not have denied.

The outcome became almost too obvious, so like any good thriller, the expected twist didn’t happen. Coming out of the doldrums in time, Scotland got their hands back on the leather in the final minutes, stemming the last Welsh hopes and avoiding disaster.

But, as appearances are often deceiving, Wales seems, despite its setback at home and many novices, equipped to do better than last year (only one victory), on the condition of not imposing a such handicap before actually starting to play. Scotland would, for its part, have everything to gain by not inflicting such difficulties against France, Saturday February 10 (3:15 p.m.) in Edinburgh. Especially since she could be deprived of her colossus Richie Gray, who came out injured (32nd).