Six Nations: Fear factor drove hero Smith to line

Tom Smith admitted that fear was the major factor in turning him into Scotland's unlikely hero at Murrayfield yesterday.

The Brive prop helped the Scots complete a memorable comeback when he sidestepped his way through the Welsh defence, then charged 20 metres to the line.

Trailing by 19 points at one stage, Smith's stunning effort with just two minutes remaining, allowed replacement goalkicker Duncan Hodge to land the equalising conversion.

"I got the ball, saw the line and ran," said Smith. "It was fear which drove me on."

It was a fantastic comeback by the Scots after a disastrous first-half during which Neil Jenkins kicked Wales into a commanding position.

"We were getting picked up a lot by the referee and conceding a lot of penalties, without really finding out why," said Smith.

"With a guy like Jenkins on the other side, the scoreboard starts ticking over and you start to lose your composure.

"You have to try stay calm and not panic. We were in a pretty bad position but finished by playing some really good rugby. It's just a pity we couldn't start like that.

"When we look at the tapes of the first half, it won't be pretty. We have to work out why we were got ourselves so far behind in the first place."

Prompted by coach Ian McGeechan, Scotland attempted to play the match in Wales' half after the interval, stemming the flow of Jenkins' punishing combination of penalties and drop-goals.

That over 30 minutes of the second period was played in Welsh territory is testament to the effectiveness of the game plan, although Mark Taylor's interception try almost took the match beyond Scottish reach.

"I didn't see him," admitted influential centre John Leslie, whose long pass was intended for Gordon Bulloch.

"As he raced away, I just wanted to dig a hole for myself and jump in. That mistake will haunt me for a long time.

"But maybe it helped us a little bit because we really had nothing to lose after that.

"We didn't pressurise Wales enough in the first half and let them dictate the game.

"But at 19 points down, you might as well throw caution to the wind because keeping things tight wasn't going to be enough for us. We just had to go for it."