Scotland 11 Wales 18: Six Nations match report and betting pointers

Result

Round four

Scotland 11
T: Graham; P: Russell 2
Wales 18
T: Adams, G Davies; C: Anscombe; P: Anscombe 2

Pre-match odds

15-8 Scotland, 4-7 Wales, 25 draw

First half

Scotland opened the scoring with a penalty but Wales were on top for the first 40 minutes, and the 15-6 scoreline in their favour did not fully reflect their dominance. Winger Tommy Seymour and full-back Blair Kinghorn were both forced off with injury for the hosts.

Second half

If the Welsh attack made the telling contribution in the first half, their defence came to the fore in the second to put down a strong Scottish fightback. The hosts turned down the chance to kick for points in search of a try but managed only one score as errors again proved costly.

What they said

Scotland captain Stuart McInally

"We had a chance to win the game and we weren't quite accurate enough. We got a massive lift when Darcy Graham scored but they're an excellent side and they've got a great defence. We just couldn't break it down.

"We have high expectations of ourselves and we hate losing at home. We'll use all these experiences to learn and get better."

Wales captain Alun-Wyn Jones

"We started well but we definitely didn't win that second period. We gave them easy penalties and we just didn't get out. We feel like we are improving game by game but it was more of a defensive performance today."

Punting pointers

Wales are top of the table with four wins out of four but they've had to fight hard for all of those and their defensive strength again shone through yesterday. That could be just what they need against Ireland and if that final-round encounter turns into a scrap that could suit them down to the ground. The Welsh have won all four of their matches by 11 points or fewer.

Scotland again shot themselves in the foot with too many errors, although they did look stronger with Hamish Watson restored to the back row after an injury layoff, and he added much-needed ball-carrying strength.

Teams

Scotland: B Kinghorn; T Seymour, N Grigg, P Horne, D Graham; F Russell, A Price; A Dell, S McInally, WP Nel, G Gilchrist, J Gray, M Bradbury, J Ritchie, J Strauss; replacements: F Brown, G Reid, S Berghan, B Toolis, H Watson, G Laidlaw, A Hastings, B McGuigan.

Wales: L Williams; G North, J Davies, H Parkes, J Adams; G Anscombe, G Davies; R Evans, K Owens, T Francis, A Beard, AW Jones, J Navidi, J Tipuric, R Moriarty; replacements: E Dee, N Smith, D Lewis, J Ball, A Wainwright, A Davies, D Biggar, O Watkin.

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