WALES RELY ON THE LATE SHOW AGAIN
WALES pulled off a nailbiting comeback win against Scotland in the Women’s Six Nations in front of a record crowd at Cardiff Arms Park.
Ioan Cunningham’s side were behind or level until the second half, but a post-break revival in attack and outstanding defence on their own line in the dying minutes as Scotland relentlessly bid for a levelling try ensured a second win from two outings in the Tiktok Six Nations.
The match was attended by a record crowd of 4,875, a new benchmark for a standalone women’s rugby international in Wales.
For a second consecutive week – after a thrilling comeback to beat Ireland 27-19 last time out – Wales left it late to ensure a bonus-point victory, but their driving maul and line-out proved once again to be a major strength.
Wales captain Siwan Lillicrap said: “Spirits are high but my message to the girls at the end was ‘we can’t keep on doing this – we can’t wait until the last 10 minutes.
“Although it’s great entertaining rugby and everyone’s on the edge of their seats, we’ve got to maybe start a little bit better.”
Scotland didn’t take long to convert their early momentum into points, with Lana Skeldon marking her 50th international appearance by crossing after a driving maul. Helen Nelson converted.
Wales levelled when a driving maul allowed Carys Phillips to power over. Keira Bevan added the extras.
Scotland responded on 32 minutes by pressing down the right and after plenty of pressure the ball was kicked beyond the whitewash and grounded by wing Rhona Lloyd. The conversion was good again.
Wales lost centre Kerin Lake to a yellow card and Scotland wing Lloyd made the hosts pay with a third try early in the second half.
Wales centre Hannah Jones responded with an impressive break, but was brought down. But replacement Sioned Harries got to the breakdown quickly to sneak in to score. Bevan added the extras.
Scotland prop Leah Bartlett was yellow-carded after Welsh pressure at the scrum. It proved a turning point, as Wales powered over with a driving maul for Kelsey Jones to score
on 63 minutes to level the scores.
And Wales went in front when Lillicrap made a strong carry, Alisha Butchers scythed through the defence and scrum-half Ffion Lewis raced over the line.
There was a nail-biting finale as Scotland piled on the pressure, but Wales defended with everything they had as they clinched victory.