Wales 26-27 Scotland - Scotland hang on for opening Six Nations win despite thrilling second-half fightback from hosts

Scotland narrowly held on to secure their first victory in Cardiff in 22 years as tries from Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe, and 12 points from Finn Russell gave them the one-point advantage in their historic 27-26 victory.

The young Welsh side had a shaky first half in Cardiff as Russell pulled the strings in a near-perfect opening 40 minutes, but the tide changed in the second half as a resurgent Wales emerged from the changing room to score four tries through James Botham, Rio Dyer, Aaron Wainwright and Alex Mann.

Three early offside penalties given away by Wales gave Scotland the upper hand, and Russell converted the second of the Welsh errors to give the visitors a three-point lead after six minutes.

Gregor Townsend’s side scored their first try minutes later, ignited by a stolen Welsh lineout ball by Richie Gray in the air. Kyle Rowe and Kyle Steyn linked up well in the passage of play that followed with the latter dancing further into the 22 to gain some important metres. Just as the attack was started by the forwards, the pack later finished the score as Schoeman burrowed over the line close to the posts.

The mistakes continued to creep in for Wales through handling errors and a poor decision from Josh Adams which saw him throw the ball into the crowd to prevent a quick lineout after a 50-22 from Russell. The Bath fly-half calmly slotted the three points gifted to him by Adams to further add to Scotland’s lead.

Tommy Reffell’s work at the breakdown shone despite Welsh inaccuracies in the first half, and he featured multiple times to win much-needed turnover penalties to provide glimmers of hope for Warren Gatland’s side. Scotland remained undeterred and soon Van der Merwe opened his account in this year’s Six Nations. In a well-worked team effort, Russell linked up with the winger after Sione Tuipulotu drew in the defence, and Van der Merwe was given the simple run-in to finish the score with half an hour played.

The half-time whistle blew after another Welsh knock-on, and Scotland went into the break 20 points up.

They started the second half in a similar vein to how they had finished the first, and Van der Merwe scored his second after two minutes. Again, he linked up with Russell, who carried Scotland just over halfway before setting the Edinburgh flyer free to run in the score largely uncontested.

Minutes later Wales kicked into action and scored their first try through Botham from the maul after a strong drive from the home side, which George Turner was sent to the bin for collapsing. Wales continued to shift the momentum in Cardiff as Dyer then scored their second after a strong carrying passage from the forwards before Tomos Williams’ long pass set him free in the corner.

They continued to press on, and Tuipulotu was shown a yellow card for being offside as the Welsh attack came calling once again. Their patience in the 22 soon paid off as Wainwright pounced over the chaos to score under the posts, giving Ioan Lloyd the simple conversion.

With a one-man advantage once more, Wales soon got their fourth try as Mann peeled off from the lineout to score on his debut. Lloyd’s boot provided the lifeline with the conversion and pulled Wales to within a point - a fate that seemed far out of reach in the first half.

A tense final few minutes saw Scotland and Van der Merwe close to scoring a bonus-point try with the clock in the red. The try was denied by a Welsh foot preventing the ball from being dotted down, but Scotland breathed a sigh of relief as they held on to their one-point lead by the skin of their teeth to achieve their first win in Cardiff since 2002, and with it the Doddie Weir Cup for the second time.

The match brought the curtain down on round one of the 2024 Guinness Men's Six Nations in spectacular fashion, and was arguably the most thrilling of the three in the opening round. Ireland head into round two at the top of the table after their convincing win against a lacklustre French side, who found themselves as the only team who failed to gain a point in round one and will face Scotland next week.

Before this match, Scotland had only won twice away to Wales in the Six Nations, and only once in Cardiff. Scotland’s last-ditch efforts weren’t enough to secure a bonus-point try, but their narrow win sees them sit third in the table with four points behind England in second (also four points), and Ireland in first (five points).

Wales have now lost their last five Guinness Men’s Six Nations home games, but the brave young side fought back in the second half to earn an important two bonus points, which sees them go into the second round just behind Scotland in fourth.

The victory also meant that Scotland retained the Doddie Weir Cup for the first time, and additionally lifted it in Cardiff for the first time.

Scotland will next face France at home on February 10, while Wales head across the border to face England on the same day.

Wales’ Aaron Wainwright was awarded player of the match after a strong attacking display in the second half despite the loss, and one which saw his name on the scoresheet as he added the home side's third try.

He said after the match: “We probably wanted the game to go on for another five minutes. We left ourselves a bit too much to do in the second half. We were just a bit too inaccurate in the first half, we obviously came out in the second half a little bit better but left ourselves too much to do.

“We were just inaccurate. We probably let a lot of their ball come from our own errors and gave them ins into the game, we just talked about playing a bit more. We didn’t really have much of the ball in the first half, so we just wanted to get our hands on the ball and I think we did that.

“100% [believed Wales could do it in the second half]. You have to have belief. I think as the scoreboard kept ticking down, the belief grew. Maybe another five minutes at the end probably would have done the job, but the first-half inaccuracies cost us that.”

Wales XV: Winnett 7, Dyer 8, Watkin 6, Tompkins 6, Adams 4; Costelow 5, G Davies 5; Domachowski 7, Elias 4, Brown 6; D Jenkins (capt.) 5, Beard 6; Botham 8, Reffell 8, Wainwright 8

Replacements: Dee 7, Mathias (n/a), Assiratti 7, Teddy Williams 7, Mann 8, Tomos Williams 8, Lloyd 8, Grady 7

Scotland XV: Rowe 7, Steyn 7, Jones 7, Tuipulotu 5, Van der Merwe 7; Russell 8, White 7; Schoeman 8, Turner 5 , Z Fagerson 7; R Gray 7, Cummings 7, Crosbie 7, Ritchie 7, M Fagerson 7

Replacements: Ashman 5, Hepburn 6, Millar-Mills 5, Skinner 5, Dempsey 5, Horne 6, Healy (n/a), Redpath (n/a)

6' PENALTY! WALES 0 - 3 SCOTLAND (RUSSELL): Scotland get the first points on the board through Finn Russell after a solid start in Cardiff as the Welsh defence are penalised as Costelow is offside.

10' TRY! WALES 0 - 10 SCOTLAND (SCHOEMAN): Scotland work through the phases and Pierre Schoeman burrows over for a strong but simple first score! Fantastic attack set up by Rowe and Steyn after Gray's lineout steal, and the forwards do the added work to seal the five points. Russell adds the two from the tee to give Scotland the ten-point lead.

22' PENALTY! WALES 0 - 13 SCOTLAND (RUSSELL): Russell whips out a fantastic 50-22, but Adams throws the ball into the crowd to delay the quick lineout, giving away a penalty. Russell adds the three points from a sloppy penalty gifted to them by Wales.

30' TRY! WALES 0 - 20 SCOTLAND (VAN DER MERWE): Duhan van der Merwe has scored for Scotland after a wonderful team effort, assisted by rugby's Lionel Messi, Finn Russell, to set up the two-on-one as he bursts through a gap, and he also converts the score.

42' TRY! WALES 0 - 27 SCOTLAND (VAN DER MERWE): Wales losing the kick battle again in the second half, Russell throws the dummy to take Scotland just over half way, links up with Van der Merwe who scores another electric try as he glides away uncontested, but one which looks so natural to the Scotland winger! Russell converts and Scotland stamp their mark on the second half after two minutes.

47' TRY! WALES 5 - 27 SCOTLAND (BOTHAM): Wales have a first try from the maul! George Turner is shown a yellow card for collapsing the maul, and it's James Botham who dots down after the lineout! Lloyd's conversion is wide, but they'll have the one-man advantage for the next nine minutes.

52' TRY! WALES 10 - 27 SCOTLAND (DYER): Rio Dyer gets the second try! A fantastic carrying effort from Wales who bide their time after the penalty. Williams throws the long pass to Dyer after an offload from Tompkins, and the winger dives over in the corner, much to the delight of the home crowd in Cardiff. Lloyd makes it seven points!

59' YELLOW CARD: WALES 17 - 27 SCOTLAND (TUIPULOTU): Scotland are back down to 14 as Sione Tuipulotu is shown a yellow card for another offside.

60' TRY! WALES 19 - 27 SCOTLAND (WAINWRIGHT): Wales capitalise! Aaron Wainwright ducks and dives and leaps over the line under the posts! Lloyd adds the easiest of conversions, what a contest we have on our hands! Wales looking like a completely different side after the break.

67' TRY! WALES 26 - 27 SCOTLAND (MANN): Wow! Superb scenes in Cardiff! Mann scores on his debut as he peels off from the maul; the momentum has well and truly shifted and the crowd erupt. Massive credit to Wales for turning this match around, and Lloyd brings the score to within one point. A massive final few minutes coming up in Cardiff!

80' POSSIBLE TRY? WALES 26 - 27 SCOTLAND: Going to TMO to check for a Scotland try... on field decision no try. With the clock in the red, Scotland have secured the win, but have they got a final, and bonus-point securing try?

82' FULL-TIME: WALES 26 - 27 SCOTLAND: Scotland win in Cardiff for the first time in 22 years!

Scotland’s 20-0 half-time lead was their second biggest ever against Wales in a Test match. The previous largest half-time score for Scotland in the same fixture, 22-0, happened 100 years ago. The win was also the narrowest of their two away wins to Wales in the Six Nations with the last two being decided by four (2020) and five (2002) points.

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