Gareth Thomas gets Wales moving in Cardiff

By Ian Gordon, PA Sport

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Wales roared out a warning that the red dragon is on fire again as they embarked on their RBS 6 Nations campaign with a commanding victory over Scotland in Cardiff on Saturday.

The Welsh rolled back the years with a display of attacking verve, pace and invention that the 1970's legends who were among the thrilled 74,000 crowd at the Millennium Stadium would have been proud of.

It seemed as if the games against New Zealand and England, in which Steve Hansen's men had rediscovered their attacking principles, had been last week such was the ease with which the players took-up where they had left-off in Australia.

Scotland, under a new coach in Matt Williams and new captain Chris Paterson and with three debutants, just could not cope as they were cut apart by their likes of full-back Gareth Thomas and wing Rhys Williams, both ostensibly playing out of position.

Man of the Match Williams ended the afternoon with two tries and prop Adam Jones celebrated his maiden test score.

Wales' victory was their first in the opening fixture for seven years and their first at home in a decade - both came against Scotland - when they went on to win the championship for the last time.

It is probably asking too much for them to expect to mount a serious challenge to World Cup winners England this year in coach Hansen's final tournament before he returns home to New Zealand.

But the good times are clearly back in Welsh rugby of which the obituaries were being written last year when they suffered an historic Six Nations whitewash.

Hansen will be looking for an improvement against Ireland in Dublin next week especially as Wales lost some of their sparkle in the second half when they were consistently punished by Irish referee Donal Courtney.

But Australian Williams now knows the rebuilding job he faces in Scotland who grabbed the slenderest of consolations deep in injury try when No 8 Simon Taylor finally burrowed his way over.

Wales could not have asked for a better start as they bagged two tries inside the first 15 minutes. The only surprise was they failed to add any more in the opening half as the inexperienced Scots struggled to find their test feet.

The first Welsh try was of their own making though as Edinburgh centre Tom Philip, one of the new bloods in blue, paid the maximum penalty for a high tackle on wing Shane Williams.

Centre Iestyn Harris made the initial break from the line-out before Thomas and flanker Martyn Williams combined to send Rhys Williams scampering over for his eighth test try with just three minutes on the clock.

The celebrations had barely died down before Wales added another stunning score with Thomas and flanker Williams again involved.

This time it was Jones who collected the final killer pass to score his first test try in the left corner.

Fellow floppy-haired prop Duncan Jones then sparked a thrilling move from his own 22 line which Thomas rounded off to believe he had grabbed the try he needed to equal the test record of 33 held by Ieuan Evans.

But the effort was disallowed for crossing while prop Gethin Jenkins, who had replaced the try scorer, was denied a try right at the flag after another barnstorming run.

Outside-half Jones did land a couple of penalties to add to his conversion to give Wales a comfortable 15 point lead at the break with Scotland's solitary response a drop goal from Paterson.

Left wing Shane Williams and Thomas were both denied after the interval by desperate Scottish defence as Wales continued in their rich-attacking vein.

And there was nothing the Scots could do on 50 minutes when Rhys Williams claimed his second try following a long pass from Harris to round-off a sustained spell of pressure.

A record victory over Scotland beckoned but a flurry of replacements took the rhythm out of the Welsh performance while Scotland refused to throw in their kilt.

It was the visitors who ended the scoring when Taylor finally breached the Welsh defence deep into injury time. Paterson converted to give the scoreline a misleading read.

England will not let the Scots off so lightly when they head for Murrayfield next week while Wales will travel to Dublin still in Triple Crown contention but set for a sterner test.

Teams

Wales: G. Thomas, R. Williams, Parker, Harris, S. Williams, S. Jones, Cooper, D. Jones, Davies, A. Jones, Cockbain, Llewellyn, Charvis, M. Williams, D. Jones.

Replacements: Peel for Cooper (78), Bennett for Davies (66), Jenkins for A. Jones (32), Owen for Llewellyn (52), J. Thomas for D. Jones (63).

Not Used: Sweeney, Shanklin.

Tries: R. Williams 2, A. Jones.

Cons: S. Jones.

Pens: S. Jones 2.

Scotland: Hinshelwood, Danielli, Philip, Laney, Henderson, Paterson, Cusiter, Smith, Bulloch, Douglas, Murray, Grimes, Mather, Hogg, Taylor.

Replacements: Webster for Hinshelwood (63), Parks for Laney (45), Blair for Cusiter (72), Russell for Bulloch (77), Kerr for Douglas (51), White for Hogg (51).

Not Used: Cross.

Tries: Taylor.

Cons: Paterson.

Drop Goals: Paterson.

Att: 73,913

Ref: Donal Courtney (Ireland).