Wales Vs Scotland: Dramatic Cardiff Comeback Seals 26-23 Win for Visitors

The latest wales vs scotland clash in Cardiff finished 26-23 after a spirited second-half fightback from Scotland that overturned a 12-point deficit, retained the Doddie Weir Cup and sent the visitors to the top of the Six Nations table. The turnaround mattered for tournament momentum and produced a sequence of tense closing minutes inside the Principality.

Wales Vs Scotland: scoreline, final moments and context

The final score read Wales 23-26 Scotland. Wales held a 12-point lead at half-time and were ahead 23-19 late in the match, but Scotland surged to score for the first time that day through George Turner and then took and held the lead. Scotland had been 20-5 down after 47 minutes and outscored Wales 21-3 in the remainder of the game to secure the win. The visitors left Cardiff exhausted and relieved.

Key turning points and the closing stages

The contest produced a slightly comedic moment amid the maelstrom of the closing minutes as Scotland pounded at the Welsh line. A close-range lineout drive early in the decisive sequence was followed by a prompt call on the stadium screens urging supporters to "Get louder, " even as the Principality remained raucous. Seconds later George Turner powered over and, after Finn Russell’s kicking, Scotland were ahead and saw the result out.

Finn Russell, scoring and second-half influence

Finn Russell was credited with an 11-point contribution in the second-half turnaround. He was largely quiet in the first 40 minutes but then sparked two fast-paced tries that either he scored or created and also added successful kicks that turned the scoreboard. Russell’s accuracy from the tee produced three successful conversions for Scotland.

Scotland’s character and tournament implications

Scotland’s victory was described as a gritty, error-strewn yet resolute performance: they dug deep when the heat was most intense. After a week-one defeat, the win lifted Scotland to the top of the table; they will drop to second if France beat Italy on Sunday. The nature of the victory contrasted with their previous-week success achieved with panache — this time the team won through belligerence and character.

Wales performance, injuries and crowd

Wales produced a revitalised first-half showing and looked capable of winning until the final moments. The hosts had been convincingly beaten by England and France in earlier rounds but here pushed Scotland all the way. Wales also faced injuries: Sam Costelow and Taine Plumtree left the pitch with problems that the head coach said do not look great. The Wales captain described the defeat as gut-wrenching and insisted the performance had been there even if the team did not stay fully in moments for the full 80 minutes. The Principality crowd was large and lively, with a reported attendance of 70, 649, a marked improvement on the previous week’s lowest home crowd for Wales in the competition.

Match events, referee and scoring sequence

The match opened with fierce Welsh possession, working through nine attacking phases inside the first minute before being penalised for going off their feet. The referee for the game was Matt Carley. Early contact saw Joe Hawkins adjudged to have made a high tackle on Gregor Brown and the Wales inside centre shown an early yellow card. Rhys Carre then finished multi-phase Welsh pressure with the opening try, converted by Sam Costelow to make it 7-0 after 9 minutes. Scotland responded through Blair Kinghorn and Kyle Steyn, with Steyn’s effort recorded as his 16th international try to reduce the deficit to 7-5 after 13 minutes.

Josh Adams finished in the left corner to restore Wales’ advantage, Costelow adding the extras to make it 14-5 after 19 minutes, and a Costelow penalty for an offside extended the lead to 17-5 by the 30th minute. Scotland made tactical substitutions during the first half, bringing Pierre Schoeman on for Nathan McBeth and Josh Bayliss on for Max Williamson, with Gregor Brown moving into the second row. A lineout from Brown led to further attacking moments for Scotland before the break, but Wales closed out the half with a 12-point lead.

On the restart Scotland’s defence had to absorb more than 10 phases of Welsh attack, but Bayliss won an early jackal penalty that helped the visitors build momentum. Subsequent sustained pressure and a restart try for Graham were further elements of Scotland’s comeback, while turnovers, penalties and Russell’s kicking settled the visitors’ route to five tournament points.

Teams, substitutions and try scorers

Wales’ matchday line-up included Rees-Zammit; Hamer-Webb (Murray 62), James, Hawkins, Adams; Costelow (Evans 56), Williams; Carre (Smith 42), Lake (Elias 56), Francis (Griffin 51), Jenkins (Thomas 75), Carter, Plumtree (Botham 9), Mann, Wainwright. Wales tries were scored by Rhys Carre and Josh Adams. Conversions and penalties for Wales included Costelow with two conversions and two penalties, and Evans with a penalty.

Scotland’s line-up included Kinghorn; Steyn, Jones (Jordan 67), Tuipulotu, Van der Merwe (Graham 54); Russell, White (Horne 54); McBeth (Schoeman 34), Cherry (Turner 54), Z Fagerson (Millar-Mills 54), Williamson (Bayliss 34), Cummings (Gilchrist 67), Brown, Darge, M Fagerson. Scotland tries were scored by Kyle Steyn, Finn Russell, Graham and George Turner, with Russell adding three conversions. Kyle Steyn’s earlier try was noted as his 16th international try.

The result retained the Doddie Weir Cup for Scotland and preserved momentum in their charge for the 2026 Guinness Men’s Six Nations campaign. Details such as injuries and tournament permutations may evolve, but the match provided a dramatic swing in Cardiff with a vivid second-half recovery.