Wales win on Cardiff return

Adi Taviner scores for Wales (Photo: WRU)

Although Wales were deserved winners, the Scotland XV showed progress in a non-capped international today. The hosts scored three tries to claim a 15-0 victory in front of vocal home support in damp conditions at Cardiff Arms Park.

The contest provided Scotland a benchmark ahead of their Women’s Rugby World Cup qualifiers next month against Spain and also gave new players and combinations experience.

Scotland Coach Shade Munro said: “It was a really good test for us. We played against a good Welsh team. Right from the word go they seemed to have a lot of possession. Our defence stood up very well, it was only in the latter parts of the game we started to tail off a bit. We started to get tired and fell off a couple of tackles and ultimately that’s where their tries came from. Our set piece held up well, the line outs that we did have functioned reasonably well so then it’s looking at possession and what are we doing with the ball. Overall it was very encouraging - huge effort from the players. It was also beneficial to see different combinations and new players adding depth to the squad ahead of our two Women’s Rugby World Cup qualifiers against Spain.”

Wales put Scotland’s defence to the test from the outset as they enjoyed the majority of possession and territory, mainly thanks to the power of the Welsh pack, although fleet-footed Ffion Bowen out wide and the clever-passing Elinor Snowsill also helped put them on the front foot in the opening stages. But tackle after tackle Scotland remained composed. It was at the 20-minute mark that Scotland started to settle. Centre Lisa Thomson made a marvellous break to cross the whitewash, but was called back by the referee.

The Scottish backs continued to have a go with full-back Chloe Rollie carving up the pitch followed by wing Rhona Lloyd stepping past several defenders to create another opportunity.

Just as it looked like the score would remain equal going into the break, Welsh captain Carys Phillips managed to find a gap in an otherwise composed Scotland defence to score at 38 minutes.  The scored remained 5-0 as stand-off Eilinor Snowsil’s attempt bounced off the sticks.

Half-time: Wales 5 – 0 Scotland XV

Scotland came out firing after the break to stay in the game and did well to prevent Wales adding to their points tally after losing prop Siobham McMillan to a yellow card.

However, once Scotland were back to a full complement of players, Wales started to string together some impressive phases of play with the ball in hand and extended their lead n the 60th minute when Wales showed some marvellous sleight of hand, ending with wing Charlie Murray crossing the line for an unconverted try.

Scotland were pinned back through the booming boot of Dyddgu Hywel, and then came the coup de grace via replacement centre Charlie Murray, who was on the end of some terrific play by blindside Alisha Butchers for Wales' third and final try.

In the final 15 minutes, however, Scotland created two opportunities that came tantalising close to tries, but the slippery conditions on the synthetic surface thwarted these attempts and the score remained 15-0 at the full-time whistle.

Scotland are set to play Spain next month at home and away with the winner securing a place at next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland. More information about these WRWC qualifiers will be announced next week.

Scotland XV: 1. Heather Lockhart 2. Lana Skeldon 3. Tracey Balmer 4. Emma Wassell 5. Sarah Bonar 6. Jemma Forsyth 7. Louise McMillan 8. Karen Dunbar 9. Jenny Maxwell 10. Helen Nelson 11. Rhona Lloyd 12. Lisa Martin (capt) 13. Lisa Thomson 14. Megan Gaffney 15. Chloe Rollie Replacements: Lucy Park, Katie Dougan, Siobhan McMillan, Fiona Sim, Rachel Malcolm, Lyndsey O’Donnell, Caroline Collie, Eilidh Sinclair

Wales :1. Caryl Thomas 2. Carys Phillips (capt) 3. Meg York 4. Siwan Lillicrap 5. Rebecca Rowe 6. Alisha Butchers 7. Sioned Harries 8. Shona Powell-Hughes 9. Sian Moore 10. Elinor Snowsill 11. Ffion Bowen 12. Rebecca De Filippo 13. Kerin Lake 14. Charlie Murray 15. Dyddgu Hywel Replacements 16. Morfudd Ifans 17. Cerys Hale 18. Amy Evans 19. Mel Clay 20. Sian Williams 21. Adi Taviner 22. Jodie Evans 23. Keira Bevan