Gregor Townsend says mixed emotions for Scotland despite landmark win in Wales - 'A lot of our players are disappointed'

Scotland players were left with mixed emotions after beating Wales 27-26 to end 22 years of hurt in Cardiff and begin the Six Nations with a win.

It is a fixture the Welsh have dominated since the turn of the century but with the two sides at very different stages of development, there was plenty of optimism in the Scottish camp that this was the time to bring their unwanted streak to a close.

Led by Finn Russell, Scotland looked set to improve upon the 35-7 drubbing they inflicted on Warren Gatland’s side at Murrayfield last year when Duhan van der Merwe’s second try of the game put them 27-0 to the good after just 43 minutes.

But a 35-minute capitulation, which included two Scotland yellow cards, paved the way for a stunning Wales comeback that created an electric atmosphere under the roof.

Four tries, three of them converted, made it a one-point game with little more than 10 minutes remaining but somehow Gregor Townsend’s charges resisted the tidal wave of momentum to hang on and begin the championship with a victory for the fourth year in a row.

Relief was probably the most palpable emotion but Townsend admitted there was also no shortage of disappointment among the players for the way they so nearly threw away a game that was all but won.

“It’s a funny one,” Townsend told BBC Sport. “A lot of our players are disappointed and we're trying to say to them this is a really important win. An important win for the next few weeks of the championship but also in terms of not winning here for so long.

“But we are disappointed with the game getting so close at the end and it could have gone either way with the momentum Wales had in that second half.

“Within that we maybe didn't make the best decisions, more in defence because we didn't have much of the ball. And Wales also played really well, and they got very close to winning the game.”

Russell, who was instrumental in two of Scotland’s three tries and added 12 points from the tee, echoed Townsend’s thoughts in a frank post-match interview.

With the visit of France to Murrayfield next week, the fly-half knows a more complete performance will be required to make it two wins from two.

“When we scored that try early in the second half we probably just got a little bit complacent to be honest,” Russell said. “I think we probably thought the game was done but there was still a long way to go, especially away from home.

“The pleasing thing at the end of the game was that we managed to hold them out. When we were a point ahead and they had some ball in our half we were disciplined at that point and we managed to get the ball back and win the game.

“But we need to get a lot better.”

For Wales, an eighth Six Nations defeat in nine and fifth in a row at home makes for unpleasant reading. But there are plenty of positives to take for Gatland.

With a number of stalwarts retiring in the last 12 months, the Kiwi hopes to usher in a new era and on the evidence, the young talent pool is promising.

Gatland was scathing of a first-half showing that ultimately gave them too much to do but praised the character shown by his side in almost pulling off a comeback for the ages.

“It was such a disappointing first half, I thought we were absolutely terrible,” Gatland said. “Our discipline was poor, the line-outs, we had no tempo and we wanted to go in the game with some pace and to play some rugby.

“The message at half-time was [to] just go out and play some rugby and play with a bit of tempo. Fortunately, we were able to do that in the second half and got ourselves back into the game and probably a little bit unlucky at the end.

“Elliot Dee was excellent. I thought Aaron Wainwright came alive in the second half as well and Rio Dyer. So really disappointed [with the result] but in a game like that you can throw the towel in and sort of lick your wounds and think about next week but the boys showed some character.”

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