Scotland 13 - 26 Wales: Predictable Scots get no more than they deserve

Published on Sunday 8 February 2009 21:54

THE fact this scoreline flattered Scotland and yet Wales never really moved beyond third gear at Murrayfield yesterday provides all the information anyone needs from what was a demoralising opening to the RBS Six Nations Championship for Frank Hadden's men.

The game fell nearer to the stodgy fare served up by England and Italy at Twickenham than the exhilarating stuff provided by Ireland and France at Croke Park the day before, and it left more questions than answers over the direction the 2009 championship might take.

Neither of these teams produced a performance near their optimum. Wales had their captain Ryan Jones ruled out the day before due to a calf injury, but still they came much closer, taking advantage of the hosts' loss of tighthead prop Euan Murray to injury and dominating the scrum, twice, at critical times, driving the Scottish pack off their own ball. They were the more physical and aggressive at the breakdown, slowing Scottish ball and ensuring a good flow of their own to Mike Phillips and Stephen Jones, the half-backs, and giving their backs more opportunities to attack the ball at pace.

Though Jason White ably ruined a couple of Welsh lineouts in their own 22, Alun Wyn Jones was a towering presence in the set-piece, and in Jamie Roberts, Wales had the most outstanding back on show – the inside centre's try-creating breaks earned him the official man of the match award. By comparison, Scotland were listless, caught on the back foot and lacked the conviction expected of a team that ran South Africa close three months ago.

For every step Scotland took forward yesterday, they contrived to take two back with countless basic errors until, finally, lifting the momentum, conviction and pace of their attack in the final quarter. The game was over by then, Wales holding a 26-6 lead after 58 minutes, but Max Evans blew a hole in Scotland's selection policy when he did what he does best and out-stripped Shane Williams and Lee Byrne for a great try ten minutes from the end, and Chris Paterson came within inches of scoring a follow-up that would have set up an incredible finale.

But Scotland barely deserved it. For all the undoubted effort, when the team did gain some possession on the front foot – which was not often enough – they seemed to have gone back a couple of years to the predictable, momentum-less midfield drives, or the drifting, lateral moves of Hadden's previous years, crucially lacking dynamism. Hadden, himself, was at a loss to explain why afterwards, and he has just five days to work it out before Scotland face France.

Already missing Murray and lock Nathan Hines, Scotland's cause was dented further by the loss of two players in the first quarter. Simon Webster came off worst in a big hit on Martyn Williams that probably saved a try, and though the winger carried on after seeming to have been knocked out cold, referee Alain Rolland insisted he depart, having been sick, in the 20th minute, to be replaced by Paterson.

Geoff Cross followed him in similar fashion, ending his Test debut also after just 20 minutes. The prop had suffered a painful introduction to Test scrummaging, but was a livewire presence in the loose; too lively for his own good, however. Chasing a high ball he was caught in two minds as to whether to go for it or make a tackle, and then took out Lee Byrne in the air after the Wales full-back claimed the ball. Cross went straight down and lay motionless, and after several minutes' treatment, was stretchered off with referee Rolland telling the players that Cross was also being sin-binned but that he felt it crass to show the injured player the yellow card.

Wales were not about to show any sympathy. Within a minute they scored their first try, Tom Shanklin finishing off a fairly orthodox attack across the Scottish 22, and eight minutes later, they were 13-0 ahead after Wyn Jones handed off Southwell long enough to thump the ball down over the line.

Scotland worked hard to uncover good attacking positions as the first half neared its end, Paterson almost jinking his way over and then the Scottish scrum being driven backwards, but within a minute of the teams reappearing for the second half – Jones having kicked them into a 16-3 lead, Paterson opening the Scots' account before the break – their revival was swiftly and suddenly kicked in the teeth.

They failed to claim the restart, kicked ball away and Graeme Morrison, the centre, then flew out of the defensive line to stop a dangerous Welsh counter-attack. But he didn't, and Roberts burst into the space he left and deep into the Scottish 22. From the ruck, ball was shipped wide for Williams to feed Leigh Halfpenny, and the 20-year-old right winger reached out through Southwell's tackle to touch down in the right-hand corner. Welsh confidence visibly grew with attacks stretching the Scots defence across the pitch, but Scotland picked up to, only good work and promising breaks by Allan Jacobsen, Allister Hogg, Southwell and Alasdair Dickinson were broken on a slew of errors.

Paterson kicked a second penalty, but Wales carved out a fourth try in 58 minutes, Shane Williams diving over on the left after Scotland's defence had been over-extended.

Even with Stephen Jones missing a fourth conversion, a deficit of 20 points with 20 minutes remaining was too much for this Scotland side.Bread of Heaven floated around Murrayfield, and Warren Gatland, the Wales coach, took off five key players in one go to rest them for England next week.

Hadden replaced skipper Blair with Chris Cusiter and Ross Ford with Dougie Hall, and the substitutes helped lift the tempo of the game, while Wales lost skipper Williams to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on.

The new pace was summed up by Max Evans, a replacement for Cairns in the 51st minute. Paterson prodded for gaps in the Welsh 22, then ball was fired wide right; Evans brushed off Williams, then Byrne and had enough power to stretch out for a try on his Murrayfield and Six Nations debut. It was a great finish from a form player.

Murrayfield began to roar as Scotland lifted in the final ten, Evans almost squeezing through again, and then Paterson, operating at first receiver, chipping the Welsh defence and diving pastByrne to the ball. The television match official ruled no try, a fair but agonising call - Paterson did not get downward pressure on the ball. It seemed a cruel blow, because Paterson's performance deserved more. If only the same could be said of Scotland's first 70 minutes.

Scorers: Scotland: Try: Evans. Pens: Paterson 2. Con: Paterson. Wales: Tries: Shanklin, Wyn-Jones, Halfpenny, Williams. Pens: Jones 2.

Scotland: H Southwell; S Webster, B Cairns, G Morrison, S Lamont; P Godman, M Blair; A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross, J White, J Hamilton, A Hogg, S Taylor, J Barclay. Subs: C Paterson for Webster 20mins, A Dickinson for White 26, Dickinson for Cross 30, M Evans for Cairns 51, S Gray for Barclay 57, C Cusiter for Blair, D Hall for Ford, both 66, K Brown for Hogg 77.

Wales: L Byrne; L Halfpenny, T Shanklin, J Roberts, S Williams; S Jones, M Phillips; G Jenkins, M Rees, A Jones, I Gough, A W Jones, D Jones, A Powell, M Williams. Subs: D Peel for Phillips 62mins, A Bishop for J Yapp for Jenkins, H Bennett for Rees, L Charteris for Gough, J Hook for S Jones, all 65, B Davies for Williams 74.

Bookies make Welsh favourites

WALES are now rated as 7/4 favourites to retain their Six Nations Championship crown and 11/4 to complete a second successive Grand Slam following yesterday's comfortable victory over Scotland in Edinburgh.

England, who opened the campaign with a win over Italy at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon, are now out to 11/2 with bookmakers William Hill as a result of yesterday's game, while Wales are 2/9 to put Martin Johnson's men to the sword in Cardiff next weekend.

After slipping to defeat in their first game, the Scots are now 66/1 to lift the Six Nations trophy come 21 March, Italy are the rank outsiders at 250/1, while France, who lost in Dublin on Saturday, are 4/1. Ireland, with a match against Italy up next this coming weekend, are 9/4 second favourites with Hills.

HOW THE TEAMS FARED

SCOTLAND

15 HUGO SOUTHWELL

The Edinburgh full-back showed up well in the counter-attack, and was the most effective of Scotland's starting backs. 6/10

14 SIMON WEBSTER

Dropped a pass early on, and had to be substituted after taking a head knock in a tackle on Martyn Williams. 4

13 BEN CAIRNS

The Edinburgh centre found it hard to get into the match and had one of his quieter afternoons for Scotland. 5

12 GRAEME MORRISON

Fought hard to contain the Welsh, and a tackle of his won a penalty which saw Scotland open their account. 6

11 SEAN LAMONT

Burst into life only occasionally, and was marginal to proceedings for most of the contest. 5

10 PHIL GODMAN

The stand-off was unable to produce the unpredictability required to force the Welsh backs on to the back foot. 5

9 MIKE BLAIR

The captain and scrum-half found it tough going behind a pack which was always up against it. 5

1 ALLAN JACOBSEN

The loose-head prop showed up well in the loose and showed an eagerness to get involved. But erred in possession. 5

2 ROSS FORD

The effort he needed to expend at the set piece meant that the hooker was less visible in the loose than has often been the case. 5

3 GEOFF CROSS

The Edinburgh prop had hardly warmed up on his debut when an ill-advised tackle on Lee Byrne meant he had to leave the field on a stretcher. 2

4 JASON WHITE

Out of position at second row, the Sale flanker performed well in trying circumstances. 6

5 JIM HAMILTON

The lock looked ill at ease at times. Could do little to knock the superb Alun-Wyn Jones off his stride. 5

6 ALI HOGG

Not his best display for Scotland, but a respectable outing nonetheless from the flanker. 6

8 SIMON TAYLOR

The pick of the home pack, It was a run of his through the middle that led to Scotland's second penalty. 7

7 JOHN BARCLAY

Had little joy against Welsh captain Martyn Williams. 5

REPLACEMENTS

Chris Paterson

On midway through the first half in place of Webster, he scored seven of Scotland's points. 7

Alasdair Dickinson

Initially on as a safety replacement for White when Cross was in the sinbin, the Gloucester prop could do little more than shore up the scrum. 5

Max Evans

On for Cairns with half an hour to go and scored a fine try. 6

Dougie Hall, Kelly Brown, Scott Gray and Chris Cusiter all had little chance to make an impact in their late outings.

WALES

15 LEE BYRNE

Ospreys full-back was solid and never flinched under the high ball. He was a constant threat and always ready to exploit gaps. 8/10

14 LEIGH HALFPENNY

Not much happened for the 20-year-old winger until the first minute of the second half when he burrowed over in the corner to finish off a sweeping move started by Jamie Roberts. 7

13 TOM SHANKLIN

The Ospreys veteran centre scored his 19th try for his country with an aggressive display. 8

12 JAMIE ROBERTS

Made the break that led to Halfpenny's try and seldom missed a tackle as he won official man of the match award. 8

11 SHANE WILLIAMS

Smallest man on the park but one of the brightest stars on show, combining speed and guile to great effect. Set up the first try and then scored himself. 8

10 STEPHEN JONES

The experienced Scarlets fly-half kicked two penalties but missed four conversions, two of them virtually in front of the posts. 6

9 MICHAEL PHILLIPS

The tall Ospreys scrum-half proved a more-than-effective link between forwards and backs before being replaced with 20 minutes left. 6

1 GETHIN JENKINS

The Cardiff loosehead was not wholly comfortable against Scotland debutant Geoff Cross but had few problems against his first-half replacement Alasdair Dickinson. 7

2 MATTHEW REES

An impressive all-round performance in set piece, line-out throwing, and harrying in broken play. 6

3 ADAM RHYS JONES

The Ospreys tighthead had a bruising contest with Allan Jacobsen but came out on top in the set piece. 7

4 IAN GOUGH

The Ospreys lock was the keystone of what looks like the best front five in the Six Nations. 7

5 ALUN-WYN JONES

The other Ospreys lock took his first-half try well in having to fight for at least five hard yards before he could touch down. 7

6 DAFFYD JONES

The Scarlets flanker proved his worth in a back row that kept up a steady stream of fast and clean possession. 7

8 ANDY POWELL

The late-flowering Cardiff powerhouse produced a superb display including at least one try-saving tackle and several big-time hits in the loose.9

7 MARTYN WILLIAMS

The Cardiff openside was captain in Ryan Jones' absence and his 85-cap experience told at the breakdown until he was sin-binned late on. 8

REPLACEMENTS

Dwayne Peel was the first to come on for Wales, Huw Bennett, John Yapp, Luke Charteris, James Hook and Andrew Bishop all came on at once, before Bradley Davies also featured. None had any real impact.