Steve Tandy’s side had led until the 74th minute, but a strong second-half comeback inspired by fly-half Finn Russell from the Scots sealed a dramatic bonus win, leaving the Welsh deflated and still without a championship win since beating Italy in Rome in March 2023.
It all looked rosy for Wales early on as Lake’s tap-and-go laid the platform with prop Rhys Carre powering over from close range to give Wales the perfect start in the contest.
Scotland hit back through wing Kyle Steyn finishing in the corner, but Wales were sharp and clinical. Instrumental fly-half Sam Costelow’s clever pass sending wing Josh Adams over in the corner, before the recalled Scarlets man superbly converted for a 14-5 lead.
Memories of their record-breaking loss to France and Scotland’s epic Calcutta victory over England seemed far away as the hosts’ defence, marshalled superbly at times by flankers Alex Mann and James Botham at the breakdown, repeatedly repelling Scottish threats before a Costelow penalty stretched the advantage to 17-5 at half-time.
Another Costelow penalty early in the second period made it 20-5 and Wales appeared to have weathered the storm.
But Scotland were not done. After sustained pressure on the Welsh line, Bath’s Russell wriggled over to cut the deficit to 20-12.
Wales responded through the boot of Costelow once more to lead 23-12, yet the game turned in a moment of quick thinking from the Scots and lack of concentration from the Welsh.
With the hosts reorganising, Russell took a quick restart, catching debutant Gabriel Hamer-Webb napping, allowing Edinburgh wing Darcy Graham to gleefully gather his kick to score his 35th try for his country in the corner.
Russell’s stunning touchline conversion suddenly made it a four-point game, decisively shifting the momentum to Gregor Townsend’s side.
From there, the pressure was relentless, and Scotland kept coming. A series of penalties deep in Welsh territory eventually would be telling with hooker George Turner crashing over from a driving maul and Russell’s conversion nudging Scotland ahead to what would be a match-winning score.
For Lake, it would be hard to take after seeing his teammates give everything to the cause.
“It’s gut-wrenching. It’s a tough feeling because you know the performance was there,” said Lake.
“Credit to Scotland because in their moments, they were unstoppable, and we know they are a class outfit.
“We delivered the things we spoke about throughout the week. In the first half, we were dominant, and in the second they had their moments. Unfortunately, the scoreboard has gone their way.
“We’ve spoken a lot about staying in moments, and staying switched on. It’s quick thinking from Finn, and they have gone over in the corner. For us, it’s those key moments that are going away from us at the moment.
“We didn’t do enough for the full 80 minutes, which is why the scoreboard went against us. But we feel we probably did enough to win the game, which makes it so tough.”
After a fallow break in proceedings, where the United Rugby Championship will resume next weekend, Wales will look to pick themselves back up against Ireland at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Friday 6th March, whilst the Scots face off against champions France in Edinburgh, still very much in the race for their first Six Nations championship.
[Lead image: Welsh Rugby Union]
