Wales grab first win

Wales beat Scotland 23-10 at home in round two of the women's Six Nations.

Published by Alison Donnelly, February 14th, 2016

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Wales grab first win

Scotland took the lead with a penalty kick from Lana Skeldon - the rare sight of a front row player being the first choice hooker drawing some cheers from the crowd, and Scotland were off to a good start.

But Wales grew into the game as the opening minutes passed with some superb carries up front, in particular from Sioned Harries, who was outsanding at number 8. Scotand had a stellar player of their own in the number 8 shirt with Jade Konkel once again to the fore throughout the game, but it was the Welsh pack who struck next with a brilliant driving maul seeing Harries touch down for the firs try of the game after 8 minutes

Robyn Wilkins converted and then added a penalty and it looked as if the Welsh were getting a comfortable grip on the game. Scotland though stayed patient and despite some innaccurate passing, they worked a fine try of their own for Megan Gaffney. Konkel was again involved and her burst through the middle created the space for the pacey Gaffney to dot down. Skeldon converted, having missed a penalty minutes before, to level the game 10-10.

Before the close of the half, Harries was again involved in an inflential scoring play - her powerful run helping Hannah Jones to dot down out wide for a 15-10 halfitme lead .

The second half started with Wales dominating possession and territory but Scotland did everything in their power to hold them at bay in the early exchanges. The hosts slotted a penalty ahead of a try by Alisha Butchers at 57minutes, but the conversion was missed leaving the score at 23-10.

Despite the loss, Scotland captain Lisa Martin remained positive about the team’s performance.

“We did well out there. We tried to push it and we tried to play with some endeavour, which was encouraging in getting that belief back."

Wales Captain Carys Phillips was delighted with the win in her first game leading the side.“We’re really pleased to get the win against what was a very good Scotland side. The game was evenly balanced at halftime but we kept our composure and we got the rewards,” said Phillips.“We now have two weeks to look ahead to France who are one of the best teams in the world. Hopefully we will have another big crowd to spur us on where we know we will have to front up and play to the best of our ability to get a positive result.”

It was a game that will however give some heart to Scotland coach Shade Munro. His side played with real ambition, and even if the skills couldn't qutie match the strategy, his team played some great rugby at times with Konkel. Karen Dunbar and Skeldon alongside Deborah McCormack proving a real handful in the tight quarters while Lisa Thomson hit some superb lines through the middle.

Wales coach Rhys Edwards will be pleased with his side's more clincial edge this week, especially up front where the driving lineout proved a strong asset. With ball in hand players like Harries were outanding through the middle while Dyddgu Hywel looked a real threat too.

Wales:15 Dyddgu Hywel (Scarlets/ Pontyclun), 14 Adi Taviner (Ospreys / Skewen), 13 Hannah Jones (Scarlets / Penybanc), 12 Robyn Wilkins (Ospreys / Llandaff North), 11 Elen Evans (Scarlets / Caernarfon), 10 Elinor Snowsill (Dragons / Bristol), 9 Keira Bevan; (Ospreys/ Skewen), 1 Megan York (Dragons / Ynysddu), 2 Carys Phillips (Ospreys/ Skewen – Capt), 3 Amy Evans (Ospreys / Skewen), 4 Rebecca Rowe (Dragons / Richmond), 5 Siwan Lillicrap (Ospreys/ Skewen), 6 Sian Williams (Dragons / Worcester), 7 Alisha Butchers (Scarlets/ Penybanc), 8 Sioned Harries (Whitland/Scarlets)Replacements:16 Amy Price (Ospreys/ Skewen), 17 Catrin Edwards (Scarlets/ Llandaff North), 18 Cerys Hale (Dragons/ Pontyclun), 19 Jenny Hawkins (Llandaff North/ Scarlets), 20 Shona Powell-Hughes (Ospreys/ Skewen), 21 Bethan Dainton (Bristol/Dragons), 22 Gemma Rowland (Dragons/ Wasps), 23 Melissa Clay (Pencoed/Ospreys)

Scotland:1 Tracy Balmer (Worcester RFC); 2 Lana Skeldon* (Hillhead/Jordanhill); 3 Lindsey Smith (Hillhead/Jordanhill); 4 Emma Wassell* (Murrayfield Wanderers); 5 Deborah McCormack (Richmond RFC); 6 Jemma Forsyth (Hillhead/Jordanhill); 7 Karen Dunbar (RHC Cougars / Edinburgh University); 8 Jade Konkel (Hillhead/Jordanhill); 9 Sarah Law*( Murrayfield Wanderers / Edinburgh University); 10 Lisa Martin* (Murrayfield Wanderers); 11 Rhona Lloyd (Murrayfield Wanderers / Edinburgh University); 12 Lisa Thomson* (Melrose RFC / Edinburgh University); 13 Megan Gaffney (Hillhead/Jordanhill); 14 Lauren Harris (Eccles RFC); 15 Chloe Rollie* (Murrayfield Wanderers)Replacements: 16 Sarah Quick (Murrayfield Wanderers); 17 Debbie Falconer (Stirling County / Stirling University); 18 Heather Lockhart (Hillhead/Jordanhill); 19 Fiona Sim (Saracens RFC); 20 Anna Stodter (Saracens RFC); 21 Jennifer Maxwell (Leeds Beckett University / Lichfield RFC); 22 Abigail Evans (Hillhead/Jordanhill); 23 Eilidh Sinclair* (Murrayfield Wanderers)

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