Scottish Comeback Denies Wales as Turner Seals Thrilling 26-23 Victory

Scotland staged a breath-taking second-half comeback to snatch a 26-23 victory over Wales, leaving the Principality Stadium in stunned silence. Despite trailing by 15 points early in the second period, Gregor Townsend’s men ignited a late surge to secure their first back-to-back wins in Cardiff since 1984 and keep their Triple Crown hopes alive.

Welsh Renaissance Stuns the Visitors

Determined to erase the memory of a record defeat to France, Wales started with a ferocity that caught Scotland off guard. Even with an early yellow card for Joe Hawkins, the home side dominated the physical exchanges.

Prop Rhys Carre continued his scoring streak, powering over from a signature tap-penalty move, before veteran wing Josh Adams delighted the 70,000-strong crowd by finishing a sweeping team effort in the corner.

Sam Costelow, returning to the starting fly-half berth, was unerring from the tee, adding two penalties and two conversions to punish Scottish indiscipline.

While Kyle Steyn managed a clinical finish out wide for the visitors, Wales entered the sheds with a deserved 17-5 lead—the first time they had led at the interval under Steve Tandy’s tenure.

The Russell Magic and the Great Escape

When Costelow slotted a penalty early in the second half to extend the lead to 20-5, Cardiff sensed an upset. However, the momentum shifted on a moment of pure audacity from Finn Russell.

After the fly-half had finished a grueling 27-phase attack himself, he produced a piece of “wizardry” from a restart—a pinpoint shallow kick gathered by replacement Darcy Graham, who outpaced the defense to score.

With the Welsh defense finally fraying under relentless pressure, replacement hooker George Turner crashed over in the 74th minute to hand Scotland their first lead of the match.

Russell’s conversion from the touchline proved decisive. Despite a late, desperate charge led by Aaron Wainwright and James Botham, Wales couldn’t find the scores to break their 1,000-day Six Nations drought.

History for Scotland, Heartbreak for Wales

The victory marks the first time in a century that Scotland has recorded four successive wins over Wales. For Gregor Townsend, the result cements Scotland’s rise to 7th in the world rankings and sets up a mouth-watering clash with Ireland.

For Wales, while the performance restored much-needed pride after a “mounting crisis,” a 14th consecutive championship defeat leaves them staring down a potential wooden spoon decider against Italy.

Line-ups

WALES

15-Rees-Zammit; 14-Hamer-Webb, 13-James, 12-Hawkins, 11-Adams; 10-Costelow, 9-T. Williams; 1-Carre, 2-Lake (capt), 3-Francis; 4-Jenkins, 5-Carter; 6-Plumtree, 7-Mann, 8-Wainwright.

Replacements: Elias, Smith, Griffin, F. Thomas, Botham, Hardy, J. Evans, Murray.

SCOTLAND

15-Kinghorn; 14-Steyn, 13-H Jones, 12-Tuipulotu (capt), 11-van der Merwe; 10-Russell, 9-White; 1-McBeth, 2-Cherry, 3-Z. Fagerson; 4-Williamson, 5-Cummings; 6-G. Brown, 7-Darge, 8-M. Fagerson.

Replacements: Turner, Schoeman, Mills, Gilchrist, Bayliss, G. Horne, Jordan, Graham.