Wales captain sings praises of ‘powerful’ Scotland
Nine days after being silenced on home soil by England, the dragon rediscovered its roar to an extent as tries by scrum-half Rhys Webb and centre Jonathan Davies consigned Scotland to a second Six Nations defeat in a row.
However, Wales captain Sam Warburton sang Scotland’s praises.
“My first game against Scotland was in 2010. I have played against them five times, and that was the toughest match they have been involved in.
“They were powerful at the breakdown and their driving lineout was effective, although we managed to deal with that as the game went on.
“They were impressive, and it’s going to take a big performance for anyone to come up to Murrayfield and win, because it’s extremely tough.
“It was really important to grind the win out. Every game becomes a must-win game, and there is a lot of pressure on every game now.
“It would take a mathematical miracle to win the Six Nations with three wins. We came up here knowing if we lost, that was the championship race over for us, so we were under a lot of pressure to deliver the win.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland was pleased that his side showed an improvement from the England game. On that occasion, Wales failed to score a second-half point.
Gatland said: “We went out and played more rugby than last week, and the possession and territory were pretty favourable.
“The disappointing thing was we had chances to put the game to bed and we allowed them back into the game.”
Scotland head coach Vern Cotter cut a frustrated figure.
“There are a lot of things we don’t have control of,” Cotter said.
“I don’t want to lose a lot of energy talking about it because it isn’t going to change the result.
“Somebody will look at the referee display or decisions made on the paddock. We have things to sort out, and perhaps they will have as well.
“There were three penalties inside their 22 in the last 15 minutes. I thought some of those errors might have been cynical as well and maybe deserved a yellow card, but obviously not.
“That is the way it is. We deal with reality.
Scorers for Scotland: Tries: Hogg, Hamilton. Cons: Laidlaw, Russell. Pens: Laidlaw 3.
SCOTLAND: Hogg, Lamont, Bennett, Dunbar, Visser, Russell, Laidlaw, Dickinson, Ford, Cross, R. Gray, J. Gray, Harley, Cowan, Beattie.
Replacements: Scott for Dunbar (58), Hidalgo-Clyne for Laidlaw (71), Reid for Dickinson (61), F. Brown for Ford (71), Welsh for Cross (50), Hamilton for R. Gray (56), Strokosch for Beattie (58).
Scorers for Wales: Tries: Webb, J. Davies. Cons: Halfpenny 2. Pens: Halfpenny 4.
WALES: Halfpenny, Cuthbert, J. Davies, Roberts, L. Williams, Biggar, Webb, Jenkins, Hibbard, Jarvis, Ball, A. Jones, Lydiate, Warburton, Faletau.
Replacements: M. Phillips for Webb (74), James for Jenkins (71), Baldwin for Hibbard (60), Andrews for Jarvis (60), Charteris for Ball (60), Tipuric for Lydiate (61).
Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand).
