[Sport] Louis Rees-Zammit inspires Wales to spectacular comeback against 14-man Scotland

[Dr@g0n]

 

Louis Rees-Zammit’s double helped hand Wayne Pivac claim his first away win as Wales coach as they hit back to stun 14-man Scotland 25-24 at Murrayfield.

Gregor Townsend’s team were looking to build on last week’s historic Twickenham victory over England and got off to the perfect start with tries from Darcy Graham and Stuart Hogg.

 

But their hopes were wrecked when Zander Fagerson was sent off for a dangerous clear-out and Wales ruthlessly exploited their man advantage.

Gloucester wing Rees-Zammit had scored just before half-time to keep Wales in the contest, with his second - after Liam Williams and Wyn Jones had also crossed over - confirming a bonus point.

 

Hogg did briefly put Scotland back in front, but Pivac’s team held their nerve to claim their first win on foreign soil in five attempts under Warren Gatland’s replacement.

There was no repeat of last week’s Twickenham knee-gate row as all 23 Scotland players plus the visitors remained standing with heads bowed during the ‘moment of reflection’ called for by the tournament organisers to show support for the fight against racism.

Some remarkable discipline saw the Scots pinged just six times against the Auld Enemy, but they were not quite so tight this time, handing over three penalties inside the opening seven minutes.Leigh Halfpenny slotted over the first points of the day but they were quickly matched up as Finn Russell responded.

 

The Scotland stand-off was one of the chief architects of that Twickenham triumph and he was flying by the seat of his pants again this time, chucking around passes so flat they missed Welsh noses by mere millimetres.

 

And it was from his daring offload to Jonny Gray that the opening try came after 19 minutes. The big lock did not have the speed to go all the way, but Scotland recycled possession before Ali Price’s sublime chip over the static Welsh defence dropped into Graham’s hands and he scampered round Halfpenny to dot down under the posts.

It was a despairing effort from the Welsh full-back but he should have done much better six minutes later.

 

Hogg started and finished the move that brought the second as he chipped over the back of the visitors.

The ball should have been easily gathered by Halfpenny, but instead he let it tumble from his grasp as his opposite number appeared in a flash to scoop the ball up and slide over the line to put his team 17-3 up on seemingly on course for victory.

 

Halfpenny ended up going off to have a head knock assessed after a mid-air clattering with Graham, who was looking a threat every time he got his hands on the ball.

It was a despairing effort from the Welsh full-back but he should have done much better six minutes later.

Hogg started and finished the move that brought the second as he chipped over the back of the visitors.

 

The ball should have been easily gathered by Halfpenny, but instead he let it tumble from his grasp as his opposite number appeared in a flash to scoop the ball up and slide over the line to put his team 17-3 up on seemingly on course for victory.

Halfpenny ended up going off to have a head knock assessed after a mid-air clattering with Graham, who was looking a threat every time he got his hands on the ball.