Wales made a flying start to the NatWest 6 Nations as they blew Scotland away 34-7 in Cardiff to set up an England showdown at Twickenham next weekend.
The Scots, without a win in the Welsh capital since 2002, never recovered from conceding tries inside the first 12 minutes to Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies and full-back Leigh Halfpenny.
Halfpenny claimed a second touchdown after half-time and added four conversions and two penalties for a 24-point haul, before wing Steff Evans’ try secured a five-point maximum as Scotland’s recent resurgence came to a grinding halt.
Tweet of the match
Former England captain Will Carling reckons Eddie Jones’ boys will have their work cut out against Wales at Twickenham next week.
Star man – Leigh Halfpenny
The Scarlets full-back has come under growing pressure for a starting spot after injuries and loss of form. But injuries to Liam Williams and fly-half Dan Biggar, who would have been a kicking option, saw him play his 75th game for Wales and he ended a five-year Test try drought with two in a personal 24-point haul.
Scotland shut down
Scotland came to Cardiff with the promise of running rugby and the threat of tries. After all, they had beaten Australia by a record score and narrowly lost to New Zealand. But it took them until the 79th minute to put points on the board and avoid them being ‘nilled’ in Cardiff for the first time since 1974.
Try, try… and try again.
No scrum-half has scored more Test tries since the beginning of the 2015 Rugby World Cup than Wales’ Gareth Davies. Davies made it 10 Test tries since the start of that tournament when he intercepted Ali Price’s pass and dashed 60 metres to the line.
Gatland close to a century
This was Warren Gatland’s 98th match in charge for Wales – equalling the record of a Six Nations coach in charge of one country. Bernard Laporte was France coach between 1999 and 2007 and in charge for 98 Tests. Gatland was previously Ireland coach between 1998 and 2001 – and he should reach his century of Wales games in Dublin on February 24.
Who’s up next?
England v Wales (Six Nations, Saturday, 10th February)
Scotland v France – (Six Nations, Sunday, 11th February)
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