Wales win in Scotstoun

Report and photo SRU & WRU

The game marked Scotland coach Philip Doyle’s first in charge at home, but saw Wales claim victory following an impressive defensive performance. Wales gave first starts to the Ospreys duo of Robyn Lock and Niamh Terry as well as Cardiff Blues wing Rebekah O’Loughlin.​

All of the points were scored in the first half with Scarlets flanker Bethan Lewis and RGC wing Lisa Neumann going over, in addition to a penalty try. Centre Helen Nelson kicked Scotland’s only points.​

Scotland flanker and captain, Rachel Malcolm, said: "We always knew that Wales would be a big physical threat, especially at the set-piece.

"We let ourselves down a bit tonight and it's a bit of work for us going forward. We made life difficult for ourselves but we have something to build on going into next week."

Errors with Scotland's set-piece in the opening period allowed Wales to get a foothold early on in the game, their dominant set piece piling the pressure on their hosts, and it was their patient build up that led to Wales’ opening try on 12 minutes with Lewis grounding the ball after a powerful rolling maul. Elinor Snowsill’s conversion attempt dropped wide . (0-5).

Straight from the kick, Scotland were eager to get their hands back on the ball but gave away a penalty.

Wales took advantage again from another line-out nine minutes later that led to their second try. ​

It came after great work from centres Megan Webb and Kerin Lake with Neumann on the end of full-back Lauren Smyth’s little dink through to score in the left corner for a 10-0 lead.

An intercept from full-back Chloe Rollie, who looked dangerous to the Welsh defence throughout the match, got the Scotstoun crowd excited before the ball was passed along the line for winger Rhona Lloyd to gain some further distance.

Scotland built through the phases and enforced a penalty on the Welsh defence for not rolling away. Helen Nelson kicked for the posts to put the first points on the board for Scotland (3-10).

The tables were turned again, however, when Emma Wassell was shown a yellow card for side entry into maul. Scotland put up an admirable defence on the line in the dying minutes of the first half, however, repeated infringements proved costly as Wales were awarded a penalty try going into the interval (3-17).

HALF-TIME: Scotland 3-17 Wales

The second-half started with Scotland still a player down and the side were forced into making an earlier substitution when Megan Kennedy suffered a leg injury that saw her stretchered off the pitch.

Scotland were soon able to make serious yards when scrum-half Jenny Maxwell took a quick tap penalty, passed it onto Lisa Thomson who kicked it up field and put Scotland in a dominating position.

With the crowd spurring them on, Scotland held their focus and had a good spell in attack. An intercept from Wales was quickly chased down to ensure that no damage was caused.

On the 61st minute, Lisa Martin, on her 50th cap, left the field to make way for Sarah Denholm, who made her first appearance for Scotland.

Also gaining her first cap for Scotland was Evie Tonkin, as she replaced Megan Gaffney on the wing.

Wales were able to bring to a halt some promising attacks in the closing stages of the game, however, Rollie brought the crowd back onto their feet following a scintillating attack which saw her weave her way through the opposition's defence before being brought down inside the Welsh half.

There were some encouraging attacks from Scotland in the final moments of the game, however, their efforts were a little too late as Wales regained possession to claim victory at Scotstoun.

Speaking ahead of the Japan game next weekend, Scotland Head Coach Philip Doyle said: "We come back into camp at the end of the week and I am looking forward to it.

"The girls are down beat obviously but we are going to pull it together again and it's a different kind of game. Wales had a very good set piece which we struggled with in the first half. We are looking to shore up our mistakes and move forward."

FULL-TIME: Scotland 3-17 Wales

Scotland: Megan Kennedy (Stirling County), Jodie Rettie (Saracens), Mairi Forsyth (Corstorphine Cougars, Emma Wassell (Corstorphine Cougars), Sarah Bonar (Loughborough Lightning) , Rachel Malcolm –captain(Loughborough Lightning), Louise McMillan (Hillhead Jordanhill), Jade Konkel (Harlequins), Mhairi Grieve (Firwood Waterloo), Lisa Martin (Saracens), Megan Gaffney (Watsonians), Helen Nelson (Loughborough Lightning), Lisa Thomson (Darlington Mowden Park), Rhona Lloyd (Loughborough Lightning), Chloe Rollie (Harlequins)

Substitutes:Panashe Muzambe (Edinburgh University/Watsonians), Lisa Cockburn (Darlington Mowden Park) for Kennedy (46mins), Christine Belisle (Cartha Queens Park), Rachel McLachlan (Darlington Mowden Park) for Rettie (HIA) (51mins), for Rettie (51mins), Evie Tonkin (Darlington Mowden Park) for Gaffney (66mins), Jenny Maxwell (Loughborough Lightning) for Grieve (46mins), Sarah Denholm (Edinburgh University) for Martin (61mins), Abi Evans (Darlington Mowden Park)

Wales: Gwenllian Pyrs, Kelsey Jones, Carys Hale, Natalie John, Gwen Crabb, Robyn Lock, Siwan Lillicrap, Bethan Lewis, Niamh Terry, Elinor Snowsill, Lisa Neumann, Kerin Lake, Megan Webb, Rebekah O’Loughlan, Lauren Smith

Substitutes:Molly Kelly, Gwenllian Jenkins, Sarah Lawrence, Abbie Fleming, Alex Callender, Ffion Lewis, Kayleigh Powell, Paige Randall.

Referee:Nikki O’Donnell

Attendance: 2196