Wales survive Scotland’s second-half onslaught to set-up Grand Slam tilt against Ireland
Relive all the action from the Six Nations clash at Murrayfield
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Wales survived a second-half onslaught from Scotland to prevail 18-11 at Murrayfield and take one step closer towards the Six Nations Grand Slam.
Wales were cruising to a fourth win out of four when at half-time it led 15-6, a scoreline that flattered the Scots, who were coming off two bumbling losses to Ireland and France.
Then Scotland suddenly came alive to own the second half. Grant Gilchrist was held up over the line, then Darcy Graham finished a brilliant backs move, and Scotland trailed by only four with 22 minutes to go and their crowd roaring them on.
Scotland had virtually all of the possession in the half, was forcing penalties, and had Wales pinned down, but the Scots found their progress hindered by their own errors, a spill or poor pass or turnover. Wales' renowned defense also came to the fore, as it made 138 tackles in the second half after 66 in the first.
The match finished with Wales in the Scotland 22 for the first time since the end of the first half, and Gareth Anscombe kicking a second penalty.
Relive all the action below.
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73 min: Scotland 11-15 Wales: But Wales stand firm once again and it's George North who wins the turnover.
75 min: Scotland 11-15 Wales: Wales win the penalty and that might be enough to see them over the line. Ali Price is penalised after crashing into Gareth Anscombe who hadn't yet claimed the ball.
Wales kick to touch and they just need to keep possession now.
79 min: Scotland 11-18 Wales: After ten phases, Wales win the penalty right in front of the posts after Scotland fail to release in the tackle. It was a titanic effort from the Scots in the second-half, but it just wasn't enough to match Wales' gritty defence.
FT: Scotland 11-18 Wales: And there it is. For Wales the Grand Slam is still on. Only Ireland stand in their way.
For Scotland, there is still encouragement to be taken from that second-half performance. They bludgeoned the Welsh defence, but, ultimately, paid the price for those sloppy mistakes in the first.
Next week, Scotland travel to Twickenham to take on England, where they haven't won since 1983.
Man of the match Hadleigh Parkes:
We played well in the first half but Scotland threw it at us in the second and they played well. The fans probably enjoyed it and that is the main thing. At one stage they had three fly-halves out there so we knew they would chuck the ball around, but it was a real team performance today and we had to dig deep.
Scotland captain Stuart McInally:
We’re obviously massively disappointed with that. We had a chance to win the game and 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 on this occasion.
Alun Wyn Jones:
Scotland did a job on us in 2017 and they almost did it again in the second half. We started well but we definitely didn’t win that second period. We couldn’t get the ball back and gave them easy penalties and we just didn’t get out.
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