Key events
PENALTY! Scotland 0 – 3 Wales (Gareth Anscombe)
2 mins. Scotland receive the kick off and exit with very little fuss, but from the resulting Wales lineout Ritchie is pinged for jumping across and making contact in the air. Anscombe, calm as always, beckons the tee onto the field and opens the scoring.
Kick Off!
Ben Thomas kicks us underway
The officials today.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Nic Berry (Australia) and Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Television Match Official (TMO): Eric Gauzins (France)
The teams are out into a sunny late afternoon in Edinburgh. The anthems are to be completed, then it’s time for rugby.
I’m open to all correspondence on the email or you could use Bluesky if that’s a thing you do.
Teams
There’s a welcome return to the Scotland XV for Darcy Graham after his sickening clash of heads vs Ireland. Rory Sutherland is on the bench after recovering from a back spasm.
Matt Sherratt goes with the same starting lineup that put a small scare on Ireland. There’s huge return to the bench for Dewi Lake as Wales have missed his carrying and grunt at hooker.
Scotland
Blair Kinghorn; Darcy Graham, Huw Jones, Tom Jordan, Duhan van der Merwe; Finn Russell (co-captain), Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, Dave Cherry, Zander Fagerson; Jonny Gray, Grant Gilchrist; Jamie Ritchie, Rory Darge (co-captain), Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Will Hurd, Gregor Brown, Matt Fagerson, George Horne, Stafford McDowall, Kyle Rowe.
Wales
Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Max Llewellyn, Ben Thomas, Ellis Mee; Gareth Anscombe, Tomos Williams; Nicky Smith, Elliot Dee, WillGriff John, Will Rowlands; Dafydd Jenkins; Jac Morgan (captain), Tommy Reffell, Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Dewi Lake, Gareth Thomas, Keiron Assiratti, Teddy Williams, Aaron Wainwright, Rhodri Williams, Jarrod Evans, Joe Roberts.
Preamble
The saying goes that if you’re not going to be here for a long time then you might as well be here for a good time. The coaches today are at opposite plots of the long time/good time axis.
Matt Sherratt has already told his employers this is a four week contract. The immediate improvement prior to the Ireland match transformed the mood and vim of his side like he’d told them three weeks of digging trenches is over and they are off to Cyprus for ten days, all inclusive. They still lost of course (that’s fifteen on the bounce) but the decent time being had was palpable, and sometimes improvement starts with not despising where you work. It’s fascinating to contemplate what a further fortnight under his direction Wales can deliver on the pitch.
Scotland’s Gregor Townsend has been around far longer, and is anyone having a good time any more? The results suggest not as the return from the talented bunch at his disposal have been consistently middling with a few highs along the way. The product on the field is lovely to watch, but there’s only for so long that can be enough in elite sport.
This match, inconsequential to the Championship outcome as it now is, has importance for both teams. Scotland have to win to be in with even a distant shout of the top two places come Super Saturday, while Wales are seeking to avoid a winless tournament – something of a miracle given what went before.
Of greater consequence is what a loss today would mean for Townsend’s tenure as coach. Being around for a long time and having a crap time is not good for anyone.
