Wales were left heartbroken as Scotland struck late to beat them in Cardiff
BBC pundits were left stunned by the moment that saw Scotland ultimately swing the game against Wales in their favour.
Leading 23-12 and seemingly in control after Jarrod Evans slotted a penalty, Wales were caught cold by a lightning-quick restart from Finn Russell. While the hosts reorganised and glanced towards the posts, Russell kicked-off quickly, with Darcy Graham alert to the opportunity. The bounce was kind, the Welsh defence static, and Graham flew over in the corner.
From a comfortable 11-point cushion, Wales suddenly found themselves clinging on at 23-19 after Russell nailed a sensational touchline conversion. The Principality Stadium fell silent. Momentum had shifted irreversibly.
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After the match, former Wales captain Sam Warburton could scarcely believe what he had witnessed.
“Hamer-Webb is doing his job as one of the speedsters, in case the kick [Evans’ penalty] comes off the post,” Warburton said.
“But Scotland and Finn Russell are ready. He just goes for it and for Darcy Graham to be on — for Hamer-Webb it’s a tough lesson to learn.
“It’s such good quick-thinking from Russell. With Finn Russell, expect the unexpected. You have to always be on red alert and Wales weren’t obviously.”
Martin Johnson was even more blunt in his assessment: “It’s too simple a try to give away at this level.”
And Alun Wyn Jones echoed the sentiment, referencing the old defensive mantra of Wales’ former coach.
“I don’t want to repeat the words of Shaun Edwards, but never switch off in defence,” he said. “It’s hard, the forwards were there doing their jobs and you expect the winger to be there.”
On BBC Radio Wales, former international Alex Cuthbert admitted the psychological blow proved decisive.
“If you gave me this result before the game I would’ve taken it, but I think how it was just one moment that got Scotland back into the game makes it so much harder to take.”
Russell himself was unapologetic. Speaking afterwards, he admitted the opportunity had been spotted and discussed in seconds.
“They had just got a penalty before that. That moment of them getting the penalty and then us doing that,” he explained.
“I think it was Matt Fagerson who said there was space. I spoke to Darcy and then we had the bounce obviously.
“It will be a frustrating one for Steve Tandy, obviously he knows that’s something that I look for — you’d imagine he would have prepped the boys. They went to sleep a little bit there and Darcy scored.”
From there Scotland surged and within minutes the visitors were camped on the Welsh line before eventually snatching victory through a late maul score, leaving Wales players and supporters ruing what might have been.