Leigh Halfpenny, right, beats the tackle of Scotland's John
Barclay to score a try for Wales during their Six Nations
match at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. (AP Photo/Tim
Hales)
Wales secured a second straight victory in the Six
Nations by beating Scotland 27-13 on Sunday thanks to a
22-point haul by fullback Leigh Halfpenny.
Held 3-3 at halftime, Wales blitzed the visitors with 24
points in the opening 17 points of the second half as
Scotland were punished for having centre Nick de Luca and
fullback Rory Lamont sent to the sin-bin.
Alex Cuthbert went over for Wales' first try in the 42nd
minute before Halfpenny crossed twice in a seven-minute span
to maintain his team's perfect record, after last weekend's
23-21 win in Ireland.
"We came in at halftime a bit frustrated but we knew if we
kept the ball we could put them under pressure and the points
and tries would come," said Halfpenny, who also kicked two
penalties and three conversions.
Greig Laidlaw scored all of Scotland's points through a try,
a conversion and two penalties.
But while Wales can look forward to a match with fierce
rivals England - the only other team with two wins from two
so far - at Twickenham in a fortnight's time, Scotland are
again facing the prospect of a battle with Italy to avoid the
wooden spoon.
Andy Robinson's team squandered a raft of chances when losing
13-6 to England at home last weekend but it was their
indiscipline that cost them dear at the Millennium Stadium.
"Yellow cards are always crucial, you've got to be squeaky
clean in this day and age and everybody's got to work on
their discipline," said Wales flanker Dan Lydiate.
Cuthbert had just gone over for a converted try down the
right wing when De Luca was yellow-carded for tackling rival
centre Jonathan Davies off the ball.
Scotland conceded 10 points while De Luca was in the sin-bin,
Halfpenny booting a penalty and then running on to a pass by
Cuthbert for his first try, to fall 20-6 behind by the 51st.
Lamont was also given a yellow card for not releasing No 8
Toby Faletau after the tackle but De Luca was back on the
pitch by the time Halfpenny looped round the back of
scrumhalf Mike Phillips to go over in the corner.
"Scotland came back into it and it was touch and go, at the
end we were under the cosh," Lydiate said. "But we're
delighted with the win and we've got to be confident going
into that game against England."
Laidlaw touched down for the Scots' first try in five matches
in the 64th but they couldn't make any further inroads.
"After halftime, we missed the restart and Wales took their
opportunities," Robinson said. "Credit to Wales - they had
chances and took them and we had chances and we didn't.
"We played very well and we're hurting and disappointed."
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