Crimson tide engulfs Scots Scotland v Wales

Scotland 22 Wales 46: The Irish may have stumbled with the finishing line in sight but Wales continue to charm and confound us all. On the banks of the Forth yesterday they duly claimed their fourth successive Six Nations victory of a sensational season and one more win over Ireland in Cardiff this Saturday would unleash a crimson tide of emotion not witnessed in Welsh rugby since their last Grand Slam in 1978.

To deny the Welsh the title now Ireland will have to beat them by a minimum of 13 points while France have to wallop Italy in Rome by a minimum of 42 points to stand any chance of entering the equation.

If they play remotely like they played in the first 40 minutes here, though, Wales will be able to ditch the calculators and reach confidently for the corkscrews.

It helped that the Scottish defence was as porous as a crofter's string vest during a remarkable first half in which Wales scored 38 points, including five tries, to a lone penalty.

The red mist did evaporate in the second half when Scotland, having made three desperate changes of personnel at half-time, scored three tries to claw back some respectability but the contest was effectively over within the first quarter.

If one man was responsible for igniting the touchpaper it was scrum-half Dwayne Peel, who blew away his supposed Lions rival Chris Cusiter to an embarrassing degree. The entire back row were equally influential and, at this rate, Woodward will have to take Welsh language lessons before he sets off to New Zealand.

The biggest irony, of course, is that Ruddock is one of the few coaches from the home unions not to have a Lions role after the Welsh Rugby Union insisted he concentrate on matters closer to home. Having spent time with Leinster he also knows an awful lot about Irish rugby which can only benefit his native land over the next few taut days.

Not even he imagined during yesterday's anthems, however, that Scotland would prove to have so little to offer on a clear, chilly afternoon. The game had barely entered its fourth minute when Ryan Jones left both Scotland's locks grasping at fresh air and sure hands from Kevin Morgan, Gethin Jenkins and Martyn Williams extended the move to help Jones finish what he had started.

The second came absurdly tartan gift-wrapped, outhalf Dan Parks sending a looping pass straight into the arms of the lurking Rhys Williams, who ran 80 metres to score untouched at the other end. By the time the quicksilver Shane Williams skipped over for his side's third, all converted by Stephen Jones, the only audible noise among the home supporters was a gloomy rustling of the record books.

A Chris Paterson penalty provided the briefest respite before Wales came charging back, Tom Shanklin punishing a missed tackle by Sean Lamont to send Morgan clear. By now it was devastation but Peel wanted more; retreating to pick up a loose ball at the back of a scrum he coolly skinned Cusiter and gave an inside ball to Morgan, which made the fullback's second try, converted by Jones, a formality.

At half-time, in an effort to ease the trauma, the home coach Matt Williams hauled off Parks, Stuart Grimes and Gavin Kerr, only for his reshuffled side to concede another score within eight minutes of the restart.

This time it was a quick tapped penalty by Peel that caught a number of Scots asleep and allowed Rhys Williams to scoot over on the right for his second try and extend the margin to 43-3. At which point, to widespread Scottish relief, the visitors effectively declared, allowing Andy Craig, debutant wing Rory Lamont and the persevering Paterson to insist that the apparent corpse still had a faint pulse.

It was still a record Welsh win in this fixture and, as 40,000 of their fans set out to paint Auld Reekie red, the local mood was not improved by news that Cusiter had suffered a blow to his Achilles tendon and is doubtful for Saturday's game against England.

Matt Williams was scathing of his team's first-half display but could not hide his admiration for the Welsh. "They're the best side we've played. If they play like they did today - and I don't think Ireland will give them the latitude we did - they'll be very hard to stop."

SCOTLAND: C Paterson; R Lamont, A Craig, H Southwell, S Lamont; D Parks, C Cusiter; T Smith, G Bulloch (capt), G Kerr, S Grimes, S Murray, S Taylor, J Petrie, A Hogg. Replacements: G Ross for Parks, B Douglas for Kerr, N Hines for Grimes (all half-time), M Blair for Cusiter (44 mins), A Henderson for Craig (75 mins).

WALES: K Morgan; R Williams, T Shanklin, G Henson, S Williams; S Jones, D Peel; G Jenkins, M Davies, A Jones, B Cockbain, R Sidoli, R Jones, M Williams, M Owen. Replacements: R McBryde for Davies (50 mins), J Yapp for A Jones (64 mins), H Luscombe for R Williams (69 mins), J Thomas for Cockbain (71 mins), C Sweeney for Henson (75 mins).

Referee: J Kaplan (S Africa).