Scotland alive and kicking in Six Nations as remarkable try proves turning point amid Cardiff cacophony

This was a hugely courageous performance by Wales, light years ahead of what they had produced in their opening two games. They led from the seventh minute until the 75th but were ultimately undone by Scotland’s second-half performance.

The visitors trailed 17-5 at the interval after an error-strewn first half but kept their heads and gradually reeled Wales in during an engrossing second 40 to win 26-23.

Kyle Steyn, Finn Russell, Darcy Graham and George Turner scored Scotland’s tries and the bonus-point victory takes them to the top of the Six Nations table ahead of the Sunday game between France and Italy in Lille.

The Scots will host the French in round four and at the very least Gregor Townsend’s side will have a stab at the Triple Crown in Dublin on March 14 in what will be a straight shootout with Ireland.

It was an incredible match which turned on an extraordinary third Scotland try. It came from a restart, Russell’s kick-off going deep. Wales were sleeping, had completely switched off, and when the ball bounced up to Graham the winger seized the opportunity to score. In doing so he equalled Duhan van der Merwe’s all-time Scotland men’s try record of 35.

Big impact from Scotland bench

Scotland’s bench made a big impact. Graham had come on for van der Merwe and it was another substitute, Turner, who got the winning try, from a lineout drive, with six minutes remaining.

The win was Scotland’s fourth in a row over Wales, the first time they have done that in 100 years. For the Welsh, it was heartbreaking. They had scored tries in the first half through Rhys Carre and Josh Adams. Sam Costelow, impressive before being injured, added 10 points with the boot and replacement Jarrod Evans also landed a penalty.

It was a home performance that saw the Principality Stadium rediscover its voice. The ground was rocking and the attendance was also good - over 70,000. After heavy reverses against England and France, this was Steve Tandy finally making his mark with this side. Unfortunately for the coach, it ended in defeat - a 14th consecutive Six Nations loss for Wales - but they will go to Dublin next month in far better heart.

Scotland, meanwhile, can now go for glory. That seemed unlikely as we splashed our way out of the Stadio Olimpico two weeks ago, when their championship chances appeared washed away in a Roman downpour.

Townsend's very future came under scrutiny but to the coach's credit he never wavered. His team outclassed England and have now backed it up with a win in Wales. Could they finally be on the brink of the tangible prize this talented squad have suggested they might deliver? There's some way to go yet, with extremely tough games to come, but this was a gritty win in difficult circumstances.

You could have been forgiven for thinking that Wales had forgotten how to win in the Six Nations but that’s not how it looked in the first half. Not even an early yellow card for centre Joe Hawkins could stop their momentum.

The crowd were loving it, and the Welsh players were feeding off the noise.

With Hawkins in the bin, they took the lead but only after Scotland had squandered a great chance. The yellow card was deserved, with the Scarlets midfielder going in high on Gregor Brown who had been the recipient of a lineout ball over the top.

The visitors couldn’t take advantage of the subsequent penalty. Steyn went close then Scotland worked the ball wide but when Ben White tried to find Sione Tuipulotu with a looped pass it was intercepted by Adams.

The ball was cleared and Scotland then lost their own lineout, allowing Wales to take the initiative. The 14 men swarmed into the Scotland 22 and after a penalty from close range, the ball was moved to Carre who crashed over.

Fast Welsh start had Scotland rattled

Scotland were stung into action and bagged their first try with a slick first phase move from a lineout. The ball went from Ben White to Tuipulotu to Russell before Blair Kinghorn played in Steyn to score. Russell was unable to land the conversion from the corner and Wales came back strongly.

With Hawkins back on the field, they scored their second try. Once again, their forwards carried hard and took the ball to within three metres of the Scottish line before it was worked wide. Costelow invited the tackler to come at him before whipping it left for Adams to go over. Costelow, recalled for this game, nailed the extras from out wide to make it 14-5 at the halfway point of the first half.

Bread of Heaven echoed around the stands and Scotland looked rattled. Brown dropped the ball and there were six handling errors in the first half alone from the away side.

Costelow then kicked a penalty to make it 17-5, which was how it remained when the half-time whistle sounded.

But five minutes before that Townsend went to his bench. The Scotland coach had seen enough of Wales dominating the collisions and outmuscling his pack. He hooked Nathan McBeth and Max Williamson, bringing on Pierre Schoeman and Josh Bayliss in a double substitution which saw Brown move into the second row.

Wales continued to hurt Scotland with their phase play and Costelow extended the lead to 20-5 with his second penalty early in the second half.

It was a time for cool heads and Scotland, to their credit, didn’t panic and two tries in four minutes brought them back into the game. There were 27 phases in total before Louis Rees-Zammit shot out the Wales defensive line too quickly to open the gap for Russell to dart over. The stand-off converted his own try to reduce Wales’ lead to 20-12.

Remarkable Graham try proves vital

Jarrod Evans, on for the injured Costelow, then increased it to 25-12 with Wales’ third penalty but Scotland scored immediately from the restart with a remarkable try.

Russell’s kick-off went deep into the Welsh backfield and the home side weren’t ready. James Botham appeared to turn his back on the ball and when it bounced kindly for Graham, the Scotland substitute seized on the opportunity to score Scotland’s third try. Russell then landed the conversion from wide on the left to make it 23-19 with 22 minutes still to play.

Scotland sniffed a victory. They won a couple of penalties in kickable range but were going for the try. Rory Darge was held up over the line when it looked like he had scored.

Scotland won another lineout and this time they made it count. Brown won the ball and the Scots set up the maul, driving Turner over to score. It was the first time Scotland had taken the lead and Russell converted to make it 26-23. There were 74 minutes on the clock.

Scotland did well in the final moments, with Elliot Millar Mills winning an important scrum penalty. Russell had a late penalty opportunity which went wide. It didn’t matter. Scotland had won. Just.

Wales: Tries: Carre, Adams. Cons: Costelow 2. Pens: Costelow 3.

Scotland: Tries: Steyn, Russell, Graham, Turner. Cons: Russell 3. Pens: xxx.

Yellow card: Wales - J Hawkins (5min)

Wales: 15. L Rees-Zammit; 14. G Hamer-Webb (23. B Murray 2-11; 62), 13. E James, 12. J Hawkins, 11. J Adams; 10. S Costelow (22. J Evans 55), 9. T Williams; 1. R Carre (17. N Smith 44), 2. D Lake (16. R Elias 55), 3. T Francis (18. A Griffin 51), 4. D Jenkins (19. F Thomas 77), 5. B Carter, 6. T Plumtree (20. J Botham 11), 7. A Mann, 8. A Wainwright.

Replacement not used: 21. K Hardy.

Scotland: 15. B Kinghorn; 14. K Steyn, 13. H Jones (22. T Jordan 67), 12. S Tuipulotu (capt), 11. D van der Merwe (23. D Graham 55); 10. F Russell, 9. B White (21. G Horne 55); 1. N McBeth (17. P Schoeman 35) 2. D Cherry (16. G Turner 55), 3. Z Fagerson (18. E Millar Mills 55), 4. M Williamson (20. J Bayliss 35), 5. S Cummings (19. G Gilchrist 67), 6. G Brown, 7. R Darge, 8. M Fagerson.

Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU).

Attendance: 70,649