Revitalised Scots crush Wales into slough of despond

FIVE NATIONS' CHAMPIONSHIP: Changing fortunes set up a Grand Slam showdown and leave two teams to try to pick up the pieces

Scotland 26

Wales 13

The dramatic reality that the Scots' next engagement will be for the Grand Slam at Twickenham not only betrays the fickleness of international rugby but is also balefully familiar to the disconsolate Welsh. Twelve months ago, remember, it was Wales who were in precisely this position.

Now look at them, with three defeats instead of three wins. But look, too, at Scotland, with Ireland, France and now Wales successively disposed of and only the biggest obstacle in their way. History beckons: Charlie Usher's 1920 side are the only Scots to have gone south for the Five Nations' greatest prize, and they lost 13-4.

Gavin Hastings and Douglas Morgan, the captain and coach, could be excused for pinching themselves. Not even two months ago Scottish rugby appeared stuck fast in its post-Springbok crisis, but the appearance has turned out to be so deceptive that they have won all of the four subsequent games and have developed a confidence diametrically opposed to their extreme diffidence against South Africa.

But then "they" are not the same, the clear-out after the Springboks not only establishing virtually a new team but also forcing the likes of Scott Hastings and Doddie Weir into a self-appraisal which had restored them as worthy internationals by the time they were recalled to face Wales.

Compare the Scottish and Welsh teams and you will not find a sharp contrast in individual ability; indeed you could argue that Wales have the greater innate talent. But what might be called the Grand Old Duke of York principle applies: when you are up, like Scotland, you are very up and when you are down, like Wales, you are very, very down.

There is no half-way up or neither-up-nor-down. The Scots have gone from no-hopers to Grand Slam aspirants in the time it has taken Wales not only to lose their title but also to be heading inexorably towards the wooden spoon. They have not won at Murrayfield since 1985, but neither have Ireland lost at Cardiff Arms Park since 1983.

There has not been so much post-match Welsh dejection since the dark days before, during and after the 1991 World Cup and, as ever, the piercing introspection of Welsh rugby will do nothing to lighten the players' mood before the Irish game.

Even so, the domestic criticism has hardly been as oppressive as some in the Welsh camp have suggested. The real problem is perception, that they think they are under fire on all fronts. With each defeat the feeling grows worse and as it grows worse so the next defeat duly follows.

"We live in a village in Wales," Robert Norster, the team manager, said. "It's a double-edged sword: it's great to have the public support but it also creates an expectation and intensity that can work against us."

As Norster knows full well from his own illustrious international days, it was ever thus. Perhaps it is time for his players to stop reading the newspapers, not least because their specific bone of contention was a pre-match interview with JJ Williams, the former Wales wing, in which Williams questioned Neil Jenkins's value as an outside-half and suggested he be moved to full-back.

That may yet happen, but the point surely is that whether Wales do well or badly the response is invariably exaggerated: celebration turns to vainglory in victory, disappointment to despair and even ridicule in defeat.

"Constructive criticism is always a help," Ieuan Evans, the Wales captain, said. "Sometimes it can be destructive, though." Evans, who has always been beyond reproach, did not look as if he quite knew what to do next. Nor did Norster; nor did Alan Davies, the coach.

"They comprehensively beat us in every phase of the game," Davies said. "The sort of pattern we wanted to impose was the pattern we imposed on the first three to five minutes." During this blinking of an eye Wales scored their try, Emyr Lewis's charge scattering the Scottish defence for Robert Jones, but there the pattern terminally ended.

As the try had come in 2min 23sec, there was still an eternity to play; at any rate it seemed an eternity to the Welsh, though for the Scots the game could not go on long enough. There was a simple efficiency and efficacy to Scottish play which was in drastic contrast to their bemused opponents.

Thus, where Scotland resolutely hung on to the ball they won, Wales wantonly gave it away. This glaring technical deficiency had the knock- on effect that when they did succeed in retaining what they had gained no one except the estimable Robert Jones appeared to have much of a clue what to do with it.

But where the Welsh were without coherence or character, the Scots were tactically astute, comfortable and familiar with what they were trying to do and bursting with a confidence and sense of adventure that have come from winning match after match. In that sense, the pressure - certainly the pre-Christmas pressure caused by constant defeat - was off.

So, liberated as they were, their response to the setback of Wales's early try was to mount a sensational counter-attack through Wainwright, Gavin Hastings, Weir and Logan culminating in a try by Eric Peters. This was followed by a no less shattering try by the other Bath Caledonian, Dave Hilton, in the creation of which the Welsh forwards were pounded into submission by seven consecutive rucks.

With big Gav's kicking finding the target after a couple of sighters, the third leg of Scotland's Grand Slam attempt was as good as completed by half-time, and if the second half was a severe disappointment after the thrilling bravura of the first, the Scots could not have cared less.

n Dudley Wood, the secretary of the RFU, is recovering from chest injuries sustained in a road accident on Friday in which the driver of the other vehicle involved was killed.

Scotland: Tries Peters, Hilton; Conversions G Hastings 2; Penalties G Hastings 4. Wales: Tries R Jones; Conversion N Jenkins; Penalties N Jenkins 2.

SCOTLAND: G Hastings (Watsonians, capt); C Joiner (Melrose), G Townsend (Gala), S Hastings (Watsonians), K Logan (Stirling County); C Chalmers, B Redpath (Melrose); D Hilton (Bath), K Milne (Heriot's FP), P Wright (Boroughmuir), G Weir (Melrose), S Campbell (Dundee HSFP), R Wainwright (West Hartlepool), E Peters (Bath), I Morrison (London Scottish).

WALES: M Back (Bridgend); I Evans (Llanelli, capt), M Hall (Cardiff), N Davies, W Proctor (Llanelli); N Jenkins (Pontypridd), R Jones (Swansea); M Griffiths (Cardiff), G Jenkins (Swansea), S John (Llanelli), G O Llewellyn (Neath), D Jones, H Taylor, E Lewis (Cardiff), R Collins (Pontypridd).

Referee: S Lander (England).