Wales 24-19 Scotland: Women’s Six Nations rugby – as it happened

That’s yer lot from a great afternoon in Cardiff. Thanks for your company.

A tearful Rachel Malcolm is talking to the BBC

“Really disappointed, we had the pressure, we had the opportunities but like last week we didn’t take the ones we had. We don’t ever want to feel like this again. I don’t think Wales being professional makes a huge difference, we’ve just had a disrupted week and our front-row had to play 80 mins because of that.”

Ioan Cunningham, Wales coach is smiling”

“They really tested us early, we were under real pressure. The girls came on off the bench and made a real impact and next week we need to get some possession and territory much earlier.”

Sioned Harries, Player of the Match is chatting to the BBC

“We wanted to show what we can do in front of the record crowd. We showed our tenacity, but we were a bit slow out of the starting blocks. We didn’t write Scotland off at all, we knew they’d be tough, but we need to start a bit earlier and be less reactive and more proactive. We have England next week, we need to focus on workrate and getting in the game earlier”

80+1. Scotland are up to 10 phases, still in the right quadrant of the Wales half. There’s no way through, so they go left...

80 mins. Scotland are hammering the defence on the right of the 5m line

79 mins. Siwan Lillicrap sticks out a hand to go for the ball from a Nelson pass and it goes foward. Joy Neville immediately says it wasn’t deliberate, but a quick glance at the replay says it most definitely was and Neville changes her decision in consultation with the TMO.

Scotland will have penalty platform in the Wales 22. They tap and go...

78 mins. Scotland aren’t done yet as Evie Gallagher hits a bit carry up in midfield from some clean lineout possession. Wales are staying well out of the ruck now and simply fanning out to defend the width of the field, daring Scotland to create enough to get through them.

73 mins. Scotland are in the Wales 22, repeat phases hitting the Wales defence. Finally, they run into Lillicrap who holds the tackle up, ref calls maul and Wales will have a scrum.

The Wales captain has been a powerhouse in this half, and she plays her part in winning another penalty for Wales at the scrum.

70 mins. How much will Scotland be ruing all those rejected chances to go for three points in the first half. Those decisions and Bonar’s butchering of a comically easy overlap have presented them a very difficult situation here.

Anne Young has replaced Rachel Malcolm

69 mins. Scotland have a bit of ball for the first time in a little while a Nelson chips a kick forward that Orr is this close to gathering on the hoof but fumbles it forward. On the next attack Gaffney tries for a break up the left, but Neumann bundles her into touch.

Cara Hope is on for Gwenllian Pyrs
Try machine Donna Rose replaces Cerys Hale

67 mins. A delicious cross-kick from Snowsill finds Neumann out wide and she’s in behind on bears down on Campbell who does a good job of stopping her. Wonderful kick, but it was so out of the blue that no Wales players could get near Neumann to capitalise on the break!

Louise McMillan replaces Sarah Bonar for Scotland.

62 mins. Wales subs:

Ffion Lewis is on for Keira Bevan
Beth Lewis replaces Alex Callender

61 mins. It’s a catch and drive from the Welsh pack but the ball doesn’t emerge, giving Scotland a scrum and bringing the Wales attack to disappointing halt. However, as Scotland feed the scrum Wales call an 8-woman shove, driving the Blue pack backwards and upwards. Penalty Wales!

It shocks no-one when they take the option of another scrum.

58 mins. Wales have a penalty on the 22 and just right of the posts as Scotland’s scramble is offside. Once again an easy three points is spurned as the ball is sent to the corner.

56 mins. Scotland win a clean lineout, but the pass to Nelson is just in front and pings off her fingertips. Wales go from their scrum and Bevan is through a gap in midfield and into the Scottish 22.

51 mins. Wales growing into the game now, Kelsey Jones fresh on the field is part of a huge Welsh shove to win a penalty at the scrum. Her darts in the lineout are not as proficient though as Scotland snaffle it - but it’s another Welsh penalty at the breakdown.

Scotland are being tested physically and mentally here as they must’ve felt the game was comfortably in their hands. How they deal with this mini-rally by Wales will be interesting.

48 mins. Kerin Lake is back on for Wales and it’s all looking a lot better for the home side all of a sudden.

Caity Mattinson replaces Jenny Maxwell for Scotland

Kelsey Jones on for Carys Phillips for Wales

45 mins. Sub Sioned Harries wastes no time in getting amongst it and wins a penalty by clamping on the ball at the breakdown. Wales have a lineout in the Scotland 22.

Some hope for Wales lies in them only being seven points behind despite being paddled absolutely everywhere; and the one and only time they attacked, they scored a try.

Scotland are sailing a little close to illegality at ruck time as well, with a few that could have been called for sealing off in my opinion but crucially not in Ref Neville’s opinion. This could be because the visitors are so dominant - if Wales can get some go-forward, the Ref may start to view things a little differently.

Maybe...

Half-time Musings

Some stats for you: Wales had 28% possession in that first period, and 71% of it was in their own half. If you want to paint a picture with numbers of how this game has gone, then look no further than this.

Scotland have been rapid and busy in attack and at the breakdown. Jade Konkel has punched holes with hard carries; Orr, Campbell and Lloyd are lively in the wider channels and the backrow has dominated the breakdown. This has led to Wales conceding ten penalties to Scotland’s three, leading to the aforementioned territorial nightmare for the home side.

Wales have to find a way for putting some phases together and kicking with more nous in the second half, because at present they are achieving nothing but inviting more Scottish attacks.

40+3 mins. From the resulting lineout Scotland go for another attack, and Snowsill is penalised for a high tackle.

37 mins. From yet another Scotland lineout after yet another penalty given away by Wales, Konkel has a big carry to put the visitors back on the attack. Orr busts the line and feeds Skeldon who is stopped short by a scrambling Wales defence.

On the next phase there is a roughly a 4-woman overlap but Sarah Bonar makes an horrendous decision to cut back inside, stopping the attack and losing the ball.

That was a terrible, terrible, option taken by the Scotland lock

31 mins. It’s off the top of the lineout this time for Scotland, with a pop pass in midfield to Thomson coming on the charge from deep, but the run is stopped by Kerin Lake’s tackle. The ball is worked around the ruck repeatedly with the blue attack up into double figures and in the Wales 22.

29 mins. It’s not quite coming off for the Scottish backs at the minute, but he patterns and timing are causing trouble to the Wales defence even if the last pass is sometimes a little awry. However, the width of the attack is stretching Wales and contributing to the high penalty count, and Scotland have another one in the Welsh half that Thomson sends to touch for a lineout.

27 mins. A catch and drive from the Scotland lineout is worked to Skeldon at the back, but Wales hit her hard as she tries to peel off the back. The ball is flung wide by Nelson but it drops a little short of Orr who can’t grip it. Knock-on, and Wales clear from the scrum.

25 mins. Wales will be heartened by the fact that their first real possession of note in Scottish territory has a seven-point return. However Scotland are back in possession and looking lively as Campbell, Orr and Rhona Lloyd link up to trouble Wales down the right touchline.

Wales infringe again and Lisa Thomson puts it in the corner, continuing the Scottish approach of rejecting three-point opportunities.

19 mins. Cerys Hale has sorted whatever early scrum issues she had and is powering through on the scrum, helping her team win a penalty as Scotland crumple.

Snowsill finds touch and Wales are in the Scottish half with the ball and a platform for the first time in the game. They string some phases together and the blue tackle line is offside, allowing Snowsill again to find a deep touch.

17 mins. The Welsh pack get a good shove on at at Scotland scrum around halfway, forcing Konkel to play it and Nelson to rush a kick. Wales run it back again but this time it’s Evie Gallagher’s turn to clamp on the ball at the breakdown and win yet another Scotland penalty.

That’s five penalties for the visitors by my count.

14 mins. Wales cannot get any kind of grip on this game at all, each possession they have is scrappy and ends with a poor kick that reeks a little of panic. The latest iteration of this has Shona Campbell dancing through a couple of tackles on a kick return, but Wales win a penalty at the breakdown!

Joy is unconfined amongst the red shirts as they finally have a penalty of their own, but not much comes of the resulting lineout as their possession is imprecise and loses the ball.

12 mins. The Scotland pack get their numbers wrong and Wales this time hold up the resulting scrum, allowing Lillicrap to bulldoze a carry away from the base. The ball is cleared with the boot at the next ruck, but it doesn’t find touch and Scotland are back on the ball and back up to the Wales 22.

9 mins. Cerys Hale is penalised for collapsing the scrum and it will be another penalty for Scotland, presenting another lineout attacking platform. On an advantage for Welsh side entry Nelson booms a cross-kick towards Gaffney on the left wing... and it comes to nothing.

It goes back in the corner for another Scottish lineout.

6 mins. Wales have a bit of grass to work in on a kick return and feed it to Jaz Joyce, but she’s met early by Emma Orr who stops her before her magic feet can get going. Joyce is then penalised for holding on as her team-mates couldn’t resource the ruck properly.

Scotland take the lineout, but it’s a bit scrappy as Natalia John gets amongst the Scottish jumpers.

Some players are singing the anthem with their gumshield in. An interesting development.

Where do you stand on this? Gumshield in or out?

The teams are on the their way out.

Lana Skeldon is first out for Scotland, marking the occasion of her 50th cap, before Wales run through a pop of pyrotechnics and join their opponents.

Anthems next and then we’ll be off and running.

Pre Match Reading

“The Women’s Six Nations finally has a permanent window in the calendar, and with it comes a chance to forge its own identity”

It feels like a moment in Women’s Rugby, read more from Ali Donnelly here:

Tell me everything, either on the email or by tweeting @bloodandmud with any thoughts, reflections or streams of consciousness.