FIERCE AFFAIR A FITTING TRIBUTE
Scots fall to Welsh in a full-blooded contest but it’s definitely Doddie’s day as he feels the love in Cardiff
THE game belonged to Wales. The day to Doddie Weir.
Love was all around the Principality Stadium for the big man but on the pitch the Welsh and Scottish players were sworn enemies in a hugely physical encounter.
That was fine by Doddie as there was no better way to honour such a rugby legend, who is bravely fighting Motor Neurone Disease, than putting on a full-blooded Test match in his honour.
Especially one which, in good old Scottish tradition, he could really relate to as, like the rest of us, he has seen time and time again games that could have been won if there had not been so many basic errors made.
Scotland centre Huw Jones was at fault for dropping off tackles in the build up to both Welsh tries.
Peter Horne will be having nightmares at letting the ball slip through his fingers from a chip over the top from his brother George when it looked easier to score.
Jonny Gray had a try ruled out for a double movement.
Fly-half Adam Hastings stood up well to being the target of so many hard Welsh tackles after their head coach Warren Gatland had looked on him as a possible weak link.
He certainly did look nervous to begin with — missing touch with his first penalty. That didn’t help settle his team and neither did Hamish Watson giving away a soft penalty, which allowed Leigh Halfpenny to open the scoring after just three minutes.
Alex Dunbar made Scotland’s first break up the middle, with Hastings restoring his confidence with a good grubber kick that forced Halfpenny to touch down behind his own line.
George North thought he had scored a try in 13 minutes when referee Mathieu Raynal was about to award him a touch down in the corner. He had second thoughts and asked for his TMO to take another look at it.
Just as well he did, as it was clear North had a foot in touch after a great tackle from Lee Jones.
Although the French referee did not award the try, he had seen Scotland were offside earlier in the move and awarded a penalty that Halfpenny put over to double the Welsh lead.
With the first quarter drawing to a close, Halfpenny made it three out of three successful penalties after Gray gave it away.
Hastings got Scotland on the scoreboard for the first time after 25 minutes with a penalty following Wales being penalised at the scrum.
Ryan Wilson was starting to show up with some great tackles, one bone-crunching effort forcing an error from Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones, who dropped the ball on impact.
However, the Welsh increased their lead with 29 minutes on the clock after some poor Scotland defending.
Huw Jones missed North, then Dunbar did the same. Even a last-ditch flying lunge from Blair Kinghorn failed to stop him touching down. Halfpenny missed the conversion.
Two minutes later, Scotland turned down the chance of three points from a penalty in favour of Hastings kicking to the corner.
It paid off, with the Scots winning the line-out through Ben Toolis.
The pack gained control of the ball before captain Stuart McInally came off the side of the driving maul to crash over.
Hastings put over the conversion in the last score of the first half.
He started the second half a lot more confidently than he did the first.
A beautiful kick had the Welsh defence turning on their heels and forced them to defend from the line-out.
Watson was making some hard yards for the first time in the game as Scotland enjoyed their best period of sustained pressure.
Against the run of play in 49 minutes, Wales increased their lead in style in their first attack of the second half.
Alan Wyn Jones took the ball off the top of the line-out and there was no stopping them from there.
Gareth Davies to Gareth Anscombe to centre Jonathan Davies — shrugging off Huw Jones far too easily — who ran in to score. Halfpenny put over the conversion.
On the hour mark, Scotland were camped on the Welsh line with Gray being held up just short.
The Welsh were then called offside and Hastings kicked the penalty advantage into touch.
From the driving maul, Gray was just short again in downing the ball and then had a blatant double movement as he took it over the line.
The French referee didn’t rule it out straight away and asked for advice from his TMO but he had an easy decision to chalk it off.
Scotland kept up the pressure, with Hastings getting better and better. There was also an extra zip about their play with the Horne brothers on the park. The visitors’ chances improved when Elliot Dee stumbled offside and made one illegal tackle too many, which saw him yellow carded with 11 minutes to go.
From the scrum with the Scotland put in, George Horne put in a superb, angled kick that his brother Peter anticipated.
He showed great awareness but let himself down with the execution.
Only his team-mate Kinghorn was anywhere near him, yet he let it slip through his grasp as the ball bounced on the ground.
Yet again, the TMO had an easy decision to advise the referee to rule it out.
To be fair to Scotland, they didn’t let their heads drop as the game reached its climax.
They kept going to the end, with Darcy Graham, who came on to win his first cap with seven minutes remaining, adding an extra edge.
At the final whistle, many of the Welsh and the Scottish players slumped to the ground.
They had put in full shifts out there — just like Doddie Weir used to do as a player.
Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones lifted the Doddie Weir Cup as he stood on the podium with the great man after a match that was a fitting tribute to him.