Agony and hope for Wales after Scotland loss

It has been a while since Welsh rugby fans have woken up on a Sunday morning after a rugby international feeling agony and hope in equal measure.

But that is what happened this weekend after Wales' excruciating 26-23 Six Nations defeat against Scotland in Cardiff.

The agony represents Wales losing - after leading 20-5 and 23-12 - to a Scotland side that only held the advantage for the final six minutes of the game.

The hope comes from Wales producing the finest performance of the Steve Tandy era, one that shows what could be possible.

Yes, it was a 24th defeat in 26 internationals since October 2023 and a 14th successive Six Nations loss in a record stretching back three years.

Yes, Wales have slipped to 12th in the world rankings and are still facing another Wooden Spoon with matches to follow against a rejuvenated Ireland and then Italy.

And the off-the-field disarray that has engulfed Welsh rugby still exists and will continue to rumble on in the coming weeks.

However, for a couple of hours on Saturday evening in the Principality Stadium, in a magically mad occasion against the Scots, the Wales team and fans recreated the epic experience that has been on show so often in the past.

And offered hope of what it could look like again in the future.

For the opening hour, Wales finally had some attacking momentum with ball-carriers powering over the gain line.

Front-row duo Rhys Carre and captain Dewi Lake had arguably their most effective games for Wales, while Scarlets centre Eddie James provided the midfield momentum with a series of thundering charges in what could prove a coming-of-age performance.

Then there was Aaron Wainwright. The Dragons talisman was immense for a second successive week, continuing his terrific tournament, despite Wales' adversity.

The back rower has played two games at number eight and featured at blind-side flanker against France.

No matter where he has been asked to play, Wainwright has consistently been Wales' most effective performer and was the highest carrier with 22 against Scotland, five more than Lake.

The attacking intent was orchestrated expertly by returning fly-half Sam Costelow, who excelled after replacing Dan Edwards.

Costelow being helped off the field injured in the second half was one of the saddest sights of the day.

Wales' defence was still not perfect and they will need a separate specialist coach after the tournament so Tandy is not having to undertake two roles.

But it was a significant improvement on the 15 tries and 102 points conceded in the opening two heavy defeats against England and France.

In Tandy's first six games in charge Wales yielded 302 points and 42 tries.

Add 26 points and four more tries against Scotland - but it was a commendable effort against the wave of Scottish second-half attacks.

Industrious locks Dafydd Jenkins and Ben Carter, in his first Six Nations start after replacing Adam Beard, topped the tackle charts with 22 each.

Foraging flankers Alex Mann and James Botham managed to gain some turnover penalties, which had been sorely lacking in the first two matches.

Wing Josh Adams was outstanding in the opening exchanges with a telling try-saving tackle on Huw Jones and vital interception.

Adams' continued selection has received criticism but in an inexperienced backline, what was evident was the amount of organising and communication he was providing, especially in defence.

English referee Matt Carley was officiating in his 50th international and his name popped up quite prominently on social media after the game by Welsh fans who felt hard done by.

They pointed to a number of decisions which they felt could have gone Wales' way.

This included Scotland number eight Matt Fagerson being offside and obstructing Wales replacement prop Archie Griffin in the build-up to George Turner's match-winning try from a driving maul.

Some Welsh fans, and former Wales fly-half Jonathan Davies, also felt there was a harsh penalty reversal for a Tomos Williams' illegal clearout at a ruck, when Wales could have kicked three points to extend the lead to seven.

Tandy afterwards said he thought that decision was a fair call and refused to blame any decisions for Wales' defeat.

After all, Scotland won the second half 21-6 and were the dominant attacking force after half-time.

The major issue Wales will look at will be concentration for the Darcy Graham try.

It was inspired by a moment of magic from Finn Russell who capitalised on Wales sleeping in defence from a restart.

The blame cannot lie with the ball boy or girl who efficiently presented the ball on the halfway line for Russell to kick off quickly.

They were merely doing their job, while Wales' players were not.

Whether the blame lies with Botham, who watched a ball bounce over his left shoulder, or new cap Gabriel Hamer-Webb who was outpaced by Darcy, will be decided in the post-match review.

Whoever shoulders the responsibility, it proved a major turning point in the game as it reduced the deficit to four points and enabled the visitors to dominate the final quarter.

Tandy will also be looking for more impact from his bench after the second-half replacements, prop Nicky Smith aside, failed to match the intensity of the starting side.

This is compared to Scotland, whose introduced players contributed significantly to the victory.

Wales' discipline is still an issue with centre Joe Hawkins picking up a yellow card for an early high tackle, an 11th sin-binning in seven games during Tandy's tenure.

However, that is progress from the 16 penalties and four yellow cards conceded just three weeks ago against England.

Wales also need to utilise to fins an effective way of maximising Louis Rees Zammit's attacking ability after his switch from wing to full-back.

The Principality Stadium crowd of 57,744 against France, the lowest in Cardiff in the Six Nations era was criticised. Rightly so.

Six days later, the Cardiff cauldron was completely different as 70,000 witnessed a scintillating spectacle on and off the field.

Some of that was down to Wales' marked improvement, with the home fans starved of any success or expectation during the past couple of years.

After all, Wales have now suffered 11 successive Six Nations defeats in Cardiff with the most recent success against Scotland four years ago in February 2022.

But Wales, led by the inspirational Lake, got the Principality Stadium rocking.

"The support was incredible," said Tandy.

"There's lots of questions asked about the crowds, but they were unbelievable.

"Everyone felt it. The players gave them something to cheer about, but ultimately they got behind the team. It's a snapshot of what we want to be."

The challenge, for everybody involved in Welsh rugby, will be to replicate this environment in the final game of the tournament against Italy on 14 March.

The match has the same early evening kick-off as the Scotland showdown.

This past weekend cannot be a one-off if Wales are to be inspired to that overdue and elusive Six Nations success in front of their own fans.