Wales only led 6-0 at the break thanks to two penalties from winger Laurie Harries. In the second half Rachel Taylor’s side managed to break down the Scots’ defence and ran in five tries in the process.
After the match, Taylor said: “It was a tough match for us. Scotland threw the kitchen sink at us in the first half and it put us off our stride a bit and we could not get things going. They defended pretty well, but we were not quite at the level that I would have liked as we set ourselves high standards.
“We had quite a stern chat at half-time and we knew that if we moved the ball away from rucks a bit quicker and got our good runners on the ball then we would be able to break them down eventually.
“I was pleased with the second half and some of the tries we scored were pretty well worked, but we have a lot of things to work on ahead of the rest of the tournament.
“We need to learn to be more patient when we are in possession while we cannot be rattled when defences fly up in our faces. After the England win there was a lot of pressure on us though, so to get a victory is good.”
In the early exchanges Taylor was very prominent and she set-up Laurie Harries for a dangerous run down the left. That did not result in a try, but the Welsh pressure continued and by the 15th minute Harries had kicked two penalties to put the visitors 6-0 up.
With that early cushion it might have been expected that Wales, who had beaten England in their opening match, would run away with this one. They did not though and that was mainly down to some cracking defending from Scotland.
Just before the break Scotland had a good chance of their own when winger Abi Evans ran on to a good kick into space, but she was tackled well.
Wales led 6-0 at the interval, but a minute into the second half Scotland got their first points of the 2015 championships on the board which came from a well struck penalty by centre Nuala Deans and it was game on.
Wales reacted well though, after a series of strong forward drives hooker Carys Phillips powered her way over the line. Harries converted and they were 13-3 up.
Play was then stopped for a good 10 minutes when Scotland centre Hannah Smith was injured and after she had gone off Wales stepped things up a level and seized control.
With 20 minutes remaining No8 Sioned Harries scored a good try converted by Laurie Harries.
Nine minutes later full-back Dyddgu Hywel showed good pace to get on the end of a good move and score and, with their defence now creaking, Scotland second-row Deborah McCormack was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle.
While she was off the field Wales really did take advantage, 25-3 becoming 39-3 thanks to converted tries by stand-off Elinor Snowsill and replacement hooker Amy Lawrence.
For Wales Taylor and Sian Williams had good games in the back-row and tackled well while scrum-half Amy Day was always lively. Centre Adi Taviner caused Scotland problems with her pace while Laurie Harries helped herself to 14 points.
Scorers: Scotland Women: Pen: Deans.
Wales Women: Tries: Phillips, S Harries, Hywel, Snowsill, Lawrence. Pens: L Harries 2. Con: L Harries 4.
Scotland Women: C Rollie; H Sloan, H Smith, N Deans, A Evans; L Martin, M Grieve; H Lockhart, L Skeldon T Balmer, D McCormack, E Wassell, k Dunbar, J Konkel, L O’Donnell. Subs used: S Quick for Skeldon 70, L Smith for Balmer 76, L Robertson for Lockhart 50 , C Fahey for Wassell 63, R Cook for Dunbar 50, S Law for Grieve 55, C Bain for Deans 78, E Sinclair for Evans 14-18 and for H Smith 55.
Wales Women: D Hywel; E Evans, A Taviner, G Rowland, L Harries; E Snowsill, A Day; C Thomas, C Phillips, C Edwards, R Rowe, J Hawkins, S Williams, S Harries, R Taylor. Subs used: A Lawrence for Phillips 71, J Davies for Thomas 40, A Evans for Edwards 76, M Clay for Rowe 65, H Jones for Snowsill 71, K Bevan for Day 71, R Wilkins for Rowland 55, K Lake for Hywel 70.
Referee: S Trumbull.
