Kate Williams promised her Welsh side would throw the kitchen sink at Scotland in their opening Guinness Women’s Six Nations clash and they did just that.
The only problem was that the major onslaught came in a frantic seven minutes of overtime that saw the Scots miss a penalty and pick up a yellow card – and Wales lose they final shot at glory by throwing a loose pass.
It was a sad end to a highly entertaining match that had the 10,569 crowd on the edge of their seats for most of the game.
It was a huge effort from Williams’ side, who had led 12-10 at the break, as they demonstrated the advances they have made under the new coaching team installed ahead of the championship by head coach Sean Lynn.
After Wales had battled their way out of their 22 with phase after phase of attacking play after Helen Nelson had missed a 30 minute penalty in the 80th minute, they had one final shot from a line out 35 metres out. The throw went short, the pass out of contact went to ground and a mammoth effort came to an end.
After a delayed start due to technical difficulties with the referee’s communications system it was the Scots who kicked off and set the early pace. A dropped ball and then penalty conceded by Wales gave the visitors the chance to kick to the corner, but brilliant defence saved the day.
All week in the build up to the opening game of this year’s Six Nations campaign the Wales head coach Sean Lynn had talked about improving the physicality of his side. He also pointed to the work being carried out by new defence coach Tyrone Holmes, who ironically joined from the Scottish camp.
The red wall that Holmes had been working on for the past two weeks strong and firm and time after time the blue shirts were smashed to the ground. At last year’s World Cup the Scots had romped to a 38-7 victory, but they struggled to find an inch of space in the first half.
Their first moment of good fortune enabled them to take the lead in the 10th minute when a dropped ball allowed them to find a hole in the Welsh defence and create a try from distance for full back Chloe Rollie which Helen Nelson converted.
The Welsh reaction was almost immediate as they put their driving maul into overdrive from a line out in the Scottish 22 and hooker Kelly Jones grabbed the try. Keira Bevan added the extras as Scottish prop Leah Bartlett trotted off after picking up a yellow card.
Wales ensured they made the most of their numerical advantage. Gwen Crabb turned over a Scottish ball at a breakdown in their 22 and Lleucu George kicked for the corner.
The first drive was held up, but from a second infringement Wales re-set their line out and Jones picked out Sisi Tuipulotu near the tail and the prop powered here way over. This time Bevan’s kick hit the post.
It was nip and tuck from there on for the final 20 minutes of the first half and the only other points came from a penalty in front of the home posts by Nelson. The game was there for whoever wanted to take it in the second half and it was Scotland who grabbed the bull by the horns.
Dominating possession and territory as the game wore on they put an up and under up into the home 22 and it came down between Bevan and Seren Singleton. The bounce didn’t favour either of them and instead bounced kindly into the arms of the fast approaching Shona Campbell.
The Scottish wing gratefully accepted her gift and raced to the line for a try that Nelson converted. The outside half as did the same after Lucia Scott picked off a midfield kick-pass by Meryl Smith on the edge of the Wales 22 and swerved past the last line of defence to score.
That made it 24-12 with 12 minutes to play and left Wales with a mountain to climb. There got part way up after a barn storming run by Donna Rose and a break by Seren Lockwood that took play up to within five metres of the Scottish line.
The forwards piled in and eventually ‘Captain Fantastic’ Kate Williams drove over at the posts.
George added the extras and it was a one score game again. Then came that frantic finish in overtime and another near miss against the Scots.
Now it's just the small matter of facing France and England over the next two weekends.
