Now Russell’s out to end England hoodoo
Visser’s try gives Scots historic win
SCOTLAND secured their first win over Wales for a decade and then began to plot their next mission: ending the painful 34-year wait for a win at Twickenham.
Under the brilliance of Stuart Hogg and Finn Russell, the men in blue are in the market for history making and a first Triple Crown since 1990 is in their sight.
Tries from Tim Visser and Tommy Seymour sealed a 23-point fightback at Murrayfield, where Wales saw their Six Nations title hopes burned to a pile of ash.
Scotland march on to London in a fortnight to face England, and man-of-the-match Russell claimed his fresh-faced team-mates hold no fear of the past.
‘I wasn’t even born the last time Scotland won at Twickenham,’ said Russell. ‘But we have ran them close. We will not get arrogant but we have the self-belief. England have momentum but if we get our prep right then we will see what happens.’
Warren Gatland was watching in Edinburgh. Russell and Hogg both furthered their Lions cases while the Welsh blotted their copybook with a second-half implosion.
Alun Wyn Jones was left red faced after his kickers – Leigh Halfpenny and Dan Biggar – overruled his decision to go for goal at 16-13 down and Scotland raced clear.
Russell was instrumental — kicking 19 points with a perfect display from the tee — and showing moments of individual brilliance that counter the moments of overexuberance that will count against him when Gatland eventually name his final squad to tour New Zealand.
Wales were dominant in the first half but they lost the second-half 20-0 — firing another blank after managing just three second-half points in the defeat by England.
Asked if he could put his finger on why Wales have struggled after the break, interim head coach Rob Howley sighed and said, ‘No. Not really’, before applauding Scotland’s composure.
‘We just weren’t accurate enough, were we?’ rued Howley.
‘We made it a little bit easier for them in the second half for Scotland. We turned the ball over too many times.’
In contrast, Wales dominated the breakdown for 40 minutes. Knowing victory was vital for their campaign, Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric dominated the collision area and allowed Rhys Webb to run the game at that stage. Wales are trying to evolve their attack from prescriptive to reactive. The players are being encouraged to read what is in front of them and the message is getting through to Webb, ebb, who is the in-form No 9 of the Six Nations along- side Ireland’s Conor Murray.
From a 24th-minute scrum penalty, Webb took a quick tap and, five seconds later, Liam Williams dived over in n the corner. Halfpenny provided the assist, after Dan an BigBig gar stood flat to feed inside centre Scott Williams.
Scotland lost No 7 John Hardie after 24 minutes and Wales tackled in pairs, starving the hosts’ danger men of attacking opportunities with their rush defence. But after an exchange of penalties with Russell, Halfpenny was off target and Scotland soon had a six-point swing before half-time. TheyTh took a quick lineout in their own half and werew suddenly deep in WelshW territory. Hogg split the defence withw crafty grubber kickk and Wales had TipuricT to thank as the speedyspe No 7 hauled down Huw Jones, but Scotland left with the consolation of a penalty before half time. In the second half, the hosts began to dominate possession, referee John Lacey aimed his whistle towards the Welsh and Scotland won the aerial battle through winger Visser, who had the better of George North all game.
Visser threw the final pass for Seymour’s try and Howley unloaded his bench at 16-13 down.
But they failed to dominate the Scottish scrum. Biggar did not have the key to unlock the game and Sam Davies was not introduced until the 68th minute, when Scotland had already put the game to bed.
Visser had dealt the finishing blow a minute earlier – beating North from close range after a brilliant bullet pass from Russell and lighting-fast hands from Hogg. Then Russell rounded the rout with a late penalty – sending Murrayfield into meltdown.