Scotland's Francesca McGhie and Helen Nelson celebrate their win. Alamy Stock Photo

Scotland open Six Nations with victory after edging out Wales in World Cup warm-up

The sides will meet again in the pool phase of the World Cup later this year.

SCOTLAND HELD ON to beat Wales 24-21 in their Six Nations opener in Edinburgh.

Carys Phillips’s try gave Wales an early lead against a Scotland team they will meet again in the pool phase of the World Cup.

Scotland hit back but turned round just 10-7 in front following Sarah Bonar’s converted try and a penalty from experienced fly-half Helen Nelson, with the television match official denying the hosts a couple of scores.

But at an increasingly rainswept Hive Stadium, Emma Orr and Leah Bartlett added further tries as Wales missed several tackles.

Abbie Fleming, however, kept Wales in touch before Gwenllian Pyrs set up a tense finish by scoring the sixth try of the game.

Both No 8s were dismissed, with Wales’ Georgia Evans collecting two yellow cards, while Evie Gallagher’s offence was upgraded to a red following a bunker review.

“We knew they (Wales) would bring a huge amount of energy which they did,” said Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm. “We said at half-time we needed to up it and our game management at the end there was crucial.”

This result meant Sean Lynn, the former coach of English Premiership Women’s Rugby champions Gloucester-Hartpury, lost his first game as Wales boss.

“The proudest part for me there was we still had that belief, we were still in the game when they (Scotland) went 12 points up and Georgia went into the bin,” said Lynn. “I’ve only been with the group for one week, there’s some real real big steps forward we can take with them.”

– © AFP 2025

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