Wales v Scotland 6 Nations Championship Saturday 12 February 2022

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Wales v Scotland
6 nations Championship

Principality Stadium
Cardiff

Saturday 12 February
KO 14.15


Well round 2 comes around quickly enough.

On the basis of the first round matches this is a match for Scotland to push on and prove that they are genuine contenders and not just a team that can beat any team on their day. For wales, who did not have such a good start to the tournament, it is a chance to salvage their season and gain some kind of redemption, their fixtures don't get any easier in the next couple of rounds and they may really be up against things if they lose this one.

On paper this could/should be a win for Scotland but we still don't really know how well this team will cope with the mantle of being favourites, especially in a stadium that has been a grave yard for them for a long long time and where we have fallen short on expectations on many a previous visit.

We will certainly see a different Welsh team this weekend as well. They won't have found that performance and result against Ireland, albeit was an extremely professional performance from the men in green, in any shape or form. The players and the public will demand a lot better at home.

So, as usual, another intriguing encounter coming up, which may well define the seasons of both teams.

I think we will see a Scotland team something like this:


1, Schoeman - probably the better of our 2 LHs against England
2. Turner
3. Fagerson Z
4. Gilchrist
5. Skinner
6. Bradbury
7. Watson
8. Fagerson M
9. Price
10. Russell
11. DVDM
12, Redpath - time to bring him in
13. Harris
14. Graham
15. Hogg


Subs:

Sutherland
McInally
Nel
Gray
Darge
White
Kinghorn
Tuipolotu

Well played Wales thought Scotland would of won that game. But what a come back, and to do it at home and win like they did. Well played.

I just knew that Scotland would mess this one up. They have some weird phobia of winning in Cardiff and pulling through these tough away games. They were even gifted numerous Welsh errors and still managed to give away several ridiculous soft penalties. A massive drop from last weekend's gutsy win over England. Winning away is still a problem.

Congratulations Wales.
I won't comment on the ref as it would sound like sour grapes.
Wales battled for every blade of grass for 83 minutes.  I'm not convinced Dancer didn't take a head knock early on, he just seemed slightly dull in his decision making; allowing Williams ' 50-20 to bounce in play is the most obvious example.
Oh well at least Oracle is happy.

You can always count on Wales to pull one out of the bag - although I don't think they were as bad as last week's scoreline would suggest, and genuinely not trying to wum but I think some people maybe got a bit carried away with Scotland's close win at home over a misfiring England team. I think Ireland and France are the teams to beat this year.

Heaf wrote:You can always count on Wales to pull one out of the bag - although I don't think they were as bad as last week's scoreline would suggest, and genuinely not trying to wum but I think some people maybe got a bit carried away with Scotland's close win at home over a misfiring England team.  I think Ireland and France are the teams to beat this year.

No I agree Heaf, pre tournament France and Ireland were the favourites and England was being talked up too. Scotland beating England shot them into contention if they backed up that win today. Going by todays result I think Scotland will be lucky to finish mid table. Not enough composure from them to win a 6N title based on today's evidence.

Sorry, congratulations Wales fans. That was a very good comeback from a tough loss last weekend. The welsh stars out performed the Scottish ones today, particularly up front. Somehow I thought Scotland might have scrum superiority today. Not even close, Wales were far better. Gutsy, gustsy win and good leadership from Biggar.

Heaf wrote:You can always count on Wales to pull one out of the bag - although I don't think they were as bad as last week's scoreline would suggest, and genuinely not trying to wum but I think some people maybe got a bit carried away with Scotland's close win at home over a misfiring England team.  I think Ireland and France are the teams to beat this year.

Absolutely. Most casual fans and the media think the only thing that matters to Scotland is beating England.

France and Ireland will tear us to shreds if we play like that against them. Constantly kicking the ball away, dropping the ball or giving away soft penalties and those two teams will win by at least 20.

I suspect whoever wins today in Paris will take the championship with the loser being runner up and then Scotland/Wales/England in any order after that with Italy at the bottom - unless they pull out a surprise win which could well happen.

Having said that it will now probably end up completely differently.

Well, Wales deserved to win

That was a disaster for Scotland. Russell's brainfarts cost us that game with some incredibly silly decision making. We had a far better side and we played as if we were underdogs who needed the bounce of the ball. I am really not sure where we go from here. We might beat France but I can't see us winning against Ireland away. That is a golden opportunity wasted and might mean we don't see Russell/Hogg ever win a Six Nations.

I can complain about the ref but it was our own fault. We needed to realise he was rewarding Wales for trapping players in and do it to them back. We had chances and we did not take them.

Our discipline has been shocking and Zander is a major culprit. He gives an edge but he is playing over the line far too much. The lack of a real replacement for him means we can't drop him. Since Du Plessis left Glasgow, our scrum has taken a backward step and De Villiers needs to step up in that department. Schoeman/Zander should be able to take Thomas/Lewis to the cleaners.

Biggar had his leg all iced up at the end of the game, if he is not fit for the next game who will take over the captaincy?

Commiserations Scotland.

I’m concerned about Dan Biggar. He called today his best victory, with all wins considered that’s so weird. His drop-goal was a very bad decision. He also kicked too much, and straight to Hogg on a number of occasions. If the captain plays bad can you drop him?

I thought Wales were good up front, and the pack got quite a rough deal on occasion in Dublin. The scrum and maul is vastly improved. It’s about time the opposition got pinged for not wanting to scrum.

mikey_dragon wrote:Commiserations Scotland.

I’m concerned about Dan Biggar. He called today his best victory, wit f occasions. If the captain plays bad can you drop him?
                                                     
I thought Wales were good up front, and the pack got quite a rough deal on occasion in Dublin. The scrum and maul is vastly improved. It’s about time the opposition got pinged for not wanting to scrum.

I wouldn't be too concerned abut Biggar.  I think he was just feeling the emotion of the moment.  And he is a very emotional player who is also a tough cookie.  My worry for him is he seems to be always carrying an injury of some kind and hope he doesn't break down along the way to the RWC (or Premiership title).

Well it wasn't a classic or an overly high quality game (certainly compared to France-Ireland) but Wales won't overly care - that was an important win and a much improved performance.that puts their tournament back on track.

Scotland were just so flat and the body language wasn't great. There was little in the way of spark, with Darcy Graham our only real threat. Finn had far more bad than good this game.

On the key decisions, Russell's was a clear yellow - if you lead with one hand you're gonna give a pen, and he was never in a position to feasibility catch it.

I do think the hit on Skinner at the end should have been a yellow too - it was leading with the shoulder and made contact with the head. Downgraded from a red due to the mitigation of Skinner getting tackled and dropping. Would it have made a difference in those final moments of Scotland attack? Who knows.

Just massively disappointing from Scotland, although trying to find positives to play badly and still have a chance of winning at the end is not a disaster...

lostinwales wrote:How on earth did Francis get 62 caps?

Well he out scrummed the flavour of the month Porter. Just because Peyper doesn’t know scrums, it’s not his fault.

So in summary, he can scrummage better than the blonde floppy haired “wonder” boy.

No 7&1/2 wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Very harsh call. Russell's going for a legitimate interception, but gets knocked by a Welsh forward. Easy YC if it's a pen, though.

The warning was irrelevant as it occurred a long time ago.

There's been 4 pens since then. And another there. Scotland should be down to 13 really.

Amen.

king_carlos wrote:Adam Beard should surely be MOM today. He has been terrific in tight and loose.

Biggar should’ve been. Watched it in the stadium and never saw somebody win a game with one leg before. What a man

A massively improved performance from last week, especially in the pack. It reminded me of the Autumn, where we looked out of sorts against New Zealand, especially in the lineout, then improved hugely for the South Africa game. Hopefully a sign that the coaching team have the ability to rectify the errors.

There was a period in the first half where our discipline and defence was poor and it looked like Scotland were going to control the game, but they came back very well second half. Elias’ line outs and Watkin’s defence were excellent.

Attacking wise we still don’t pose a huge threat, but we have an ability to drag other team’s levels down, which is a handy thing to be able to do in international sport.

Who got MOM turned over for the Ireland v France game before it was announced?

doctor_grey wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Commiserations Scotland.

I’m concerned about Dan Biggar. He called today his best victory, wit f occasions. If the captain plays bad can you drop him?
                                                     
I thought Wales were good up front, and the pack got quite a rough deal on occasion in Dublin. The scrum and maul is vastly improved. It’s about time the opposition got pinged for not wanting to scrum.

I wouldn't be too concerned abut Biggar.  I think he was just feeling the emotion of the moment.  And he is a very emotional player who is also a tough cookie.  My worry for him is he seems to be always carrying an injury of some kind and hope he doesn't break down along the way to the RWC (or Premiership title).

He played well enough for sure, it’s just all those things are concerning for me. The constant kicking to the back 3 was bizarre, I don’t know how Scotland didn’t punish us more. The chase wasn’t great either but then again our centres are poor in attack.
Perhaps Biggar should have come off earlier as he picked up an injury early on. He is approaching that age where his game time should be better managed.

A lot of praise for Beard, but I thought Rowlands was better… That’s turning into a good partnership. The back up (Seb Davies) isn’t great.

The decision to drop that goal was a bit crazy when they had a straightforward penalty in the bag already. I try would have killed the game and that could have given us a get out of jail card.

You could see Liam Williams having words with Biggar about it afterwards.

Biggar did play well though and was s good leader for Wales, something Scotlsnd lacked. We really missed Jamie Ritchie in that regard.

As is often the case. The side that needed the win. Beat the side that just wanted it.

mikey_dragon wrote:A lot of praise for Beard, but I thought Rowlands was better… That’s turning into a good partnership. The back up (Seb Davies) isn’t great.

Beard’s error count is so low, he’s certainly in the Charteris mould of getting through a lot of work, especially defensively. Rowlands gave away a stupid penalty from coming in at the side of a maul.

chris_501 wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:A lot of praise for Beard, but I thought Rowlands was better… That’s turning into a good partnership. The back up (Seb Davies) isn’t great.

Beard’s error count is so low, he’s certainly in the Charteris mould of getting through a lot of work, especially defensively. Rowlands gave away a stupid penalty from coming in at the side of a maul.

Whilst Watkin put a stupid kick straight out after Beard and Rowlands did a lot of hard work dominating the maul.

BigGee wrote:The decision to drop that goal was a bit crazy when they had a straightforward penalty in the bag already. I try would have killed the game and that could have given us a get out of jail card.

You could see Liam Williams having words with Biggar about it afterwards.

Biggar did play well though and was s good leader for Wales, something Scotlsnd lacked. We really missed Jamie Ritchie in that regard.

As is often the case. The side that needed the win. Beat the side that just wanted it.

Scotland were at high risk of another yellow too - at the very least he should have accepted the penalty and put pressure on the ref for another card.

It all worked out in the end but it was a strange decision!

Just catching up on the posts from the game. I have to say, thanks to the Scottish posters - very gracious in defeat, as always

Main talking points from the game for me:

1. Scotland didn’t seem to get into their helter skelter free flowing rugby. That was great from a Wales point of view. Not sure if that was Scotland not on game or Wales stopping them from doing so. But either way, it helped Wales massively.

2. I thought Wales were much better this week. More solid through the centres and overall a much better defensive effort. As others have said, Beard and Biggar played well (but Biggar could have made a better decision with the drop goal).

3. The pub I was in served pasta bake at half time. Wtf has the world come to?! Where was the watery curry half ‘n half?!

Curry half 'n' half?
Curry and chips surely?
The world has truly gone mad.

p.s. Who won the battle of the initials? LZR or ADHD KID?

jimbopip wrote:Curry half 'n' half?
Curry and chips surely?
The world has truly gone mad.

p.s. Who won the battle of the initials? LZR or ADHD KID?

That was one of the few battles we did clearly win! Darcy is one of the players of the tournament so far. He's so powerful for such a small guy. Some decent hits in defence too.

RDW wrote:

jimbopip wrote:Curry half 'n' half?
Curry and chips surely?
The world has truly gone mad.

p.s. Who won the battle of the initials? LZR or ADHD KID?

That was one of the few battles we did clearly win! Darcy is one of the players of the tournament so far. He's so powerful for such a small guy. Some decent hits in defence too.

He was top class, he had a far better game than DVDM.

All correct. Well done lads.
Shall we initial him into the teamsheet for the France game?

chris_501 wrote:

RDW wrote:

jimbopip wrote:Curry half 'n' half?
Curry and chips surely?
The world has truly gone mad.

p.s. Who won the battle of the initials? LZR or ADHD KID?

That was one of the few battles we did clearly win! Darcy is one of the players of the tournament so far. He's so powerful for such a small guy. Some decent hits in defence too.

He was top class, he had a far better game than DVDM.

Apologies to make this about another (sic) English triumph, but on the initial front how can anyone beat the recently retired TGACLF?
(Tobias Gerald Albert Cecil Lieven Flood)

You must have come across alphabet who played for Glasgow and canada? Daniel Tailliferre Hauman (DTH) van der Merwe

takethelongroad wrote:You must have come across alphabet who played for Glasgow and canada? Daniel Tailliferre Hauman (DTH) van der Merwe

I forgot abut him. But, and this is for the linguists amongst us (a list from which I are be most definitely excused) do the 'van der' prefix/particle count the same as a proper name? I might still actually win this.

By the way, I had to look it up and in Dutch it is referred to as 'Tussenvoegsel'.

I just thought of a terrible joke but don't think I have the guts to post it ...

Heaf wrote:I just thought of a terrible joke but don't think I have the guts to post it ...

We have a saying you here.

“Dae it, Poopie if ya dinnae”

mikey_dragon wrote:

chris_501 wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:A lot of praise for Beard, but I thought Rowlands was better… That’s turning into a good partnership. The back up (Seb Davies) isn’t great.

Beard’s error count is so low, he’s certainly in the Charteris mould of getting through a lot of work, especially defensively. Rowlands gave away a stupid penalty from coming in at the side of a maul.

Whilst Watkin put a stupid kick straight out after Beard and Rowlands did a lot of hard work dominating the maul.

He did, and he didn’t create a huge amount in attack. But what did you think to his defence?

tigertattie wrote:

Heaf wrote:I just thought of a terrible joke but don't think I have the guts to post it ...

We have a saying you here.

“Dae it, Poopie if ya dinnae”

Does that mean I should do it?

Yeah

Sadly the sweary filter got me

chris_501 wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

chris_501 wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:A lot of praise for Beard, but I thought Rowlands was better… That’s turning into a good partnership. The back up (Seb Davies) isn’t great.

Beard’s error count is so low, he’s certainly in the Charteris mould of getting through a lot of work, especially defensively. Rowlands gave away a stupid penalty from coming in at the side of a maul.

Whilst Watkin put a stupid kick straight out after Beard and Rowlands did a lot of hard work dominating the maul.

He did, and he didn’t create a huge amount in attack. But what did you think to his defence?

Defence was good. Tompkins was pretty quiet.

tigertattie wrote:Yeah

Sadly the sweary filter got me

  The moment has probably passed now but I was going to reply to doc-grey's post saying I used to be a cunning linguist but I had to stop as it was hurting my neck .... told you it was terrible

At the end of the game Biggar was held together with sticky tape.

Any news on how bed his injurie is, and will he be avalible for the game against England?

EWT Spoons wrote:Wales in Cardiff is nigh on guaranteed a Wales win against Scotland.

We can pretend that injuries/form/the roof will have some impact on the game, but we all know that as soon as Wales and Scotland take the field down in Cardiff there is only going to be one winner and they’ll be in red.

I’d love it to be different, but the only outcome in doubt is how Wales win.  Whether it will be from Scotland shooting ourselves in the foot by giving away a tonne of pens or a string of multi coloured cards, or if Wales will outplay us or fluke themselves to victory.  Regardless of how, clear cut Wales win for me on this one.

It’s a story as old as time.

Not that I am pessimistic or anything, just the history of this fixture is pointing very much in one direction and it’s not an away win.

Called it.

Scotland gave away a load of pens, picked up a card in the process, Wales outplayed us and we also shot ourselves in the foot. Clean sweep!

Was Russell's performance just a one off or more of a wider issue that if it's not quite working for him he's not able/ prepared to reign things in to be more pragmatic?

Once again Hamish Watson showed he is a force of nature, it's going to be a long time before he gives up that number 7 shirt.

I hate to say it, but Wales' general dog actually had me cheering for them Saturday. Thats a first and possibly last for me.

Yes, be more careful with our 10!!!!!