Scotland get Welsh lesson

27 - 23. 51 - 3. 27 - 13. 31 - 24. 30 - 15. 28 - 18. 23 - 10.

After seven straight losses away from home to the Dragons, Scotland travelled to Cardiff looking to get their first win against Wales on their turf for the first time since 2002.

The last seven trips to the Welsh capital had proved fruitless and often painful, with the Dark Blues returning empty handed time after time.

But while the hopeless optimism of the past was replaced with a more tangible belief based on two years of positive performances - and results - unfortunately it was the same old Scotland that took to the field to open this year’s Six Nations tournament.

So much had been made of Gregor Townsend’s new fast-and-furious attacking rugby side, the team were being touted as one of the favourites to lift the tournament trophy for the first time since it switched from the Five Nations in 1999.

But far from the “organised chaos” Townsend had warned his opponents was coming their way in the build-up to this year’s showpiece, all Scotland ended up providing was simply chaos.

After a bright start that saw Johnny Gray marauding through the Welsh defence like a knife through butter, the Scottish faithful could almost sense a famous victory that would set the tone for the rest of the campaign.

What followed was a tartan nightmare.

Ali Price, touted to further impress on the international stage, threw a slack pass that was easily intercepted and run in for the first try by Gareth Davies.

That early score shook the Scottish side to the core. This wasn’t in the script and they looked shell-shocked by it.

The second try, off the back of more errors across the board, put the Scots further behind, away from home, after just 12 minutes.

This was a Scotland team in meltdown. Even Stuart Hogg, so often the outstanding diamond in the Scottish backline, failed to sparkle.

Even so, two scores down at half-time meant Scotland were by no means out of this contest. This was a team that put eight tries past Australia in the autumn, and two past the All Blacks.

But Townsend could not rouse his troops as they stumbled further

“What followed was a tartan nightmare

into a Welsh abyss.

Peter Horne’s late score was the only saving grace, as Scotland headed for the rarest of bagels.

Thankfully for Scotland, all is not lost. This was the first game of five. And trips to Wales have never been easy, for any rugby nation.

The glimmer of hope is a return to a sold-out Murrayfield where so much of Scotland’s success has been in the last few years. They won every home fixture in last year’s competition.

Despite a Welsh humiliation, all is not yet lost and these players have the perfect opportunity to bounce back against France and prove the earlier hype was not misplaced.