Dragons kick off Six Nations campaign with win
Wales will be confident of defeating Martin Johnson's stuttering England side next Saturday
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An abysmal fourth day showing from England in the first Test against the West Indies saw the visitors dismissed for 51 as they fell to an innings defeat. |  |
Sunday, 08, Feb 2009 09:01
Wales have begun the defence of the Six Nations with a 26-13 win over Scotland at Murrayfield.
The Dragons scored tries through Tom Shanklin, Alun Wyn Jones, Leigh Halfpenny, and Shaine Williams while Max Evans scored a consolation for the Scots.
Despite the absence of injured skipper Ryan Jones, Wales made a perfect start in their bid to improve their record of one win from their last five visits to Murrayfield.
After Stephen Jones slotted over an early penalty, Shanklin scored the game's first try on the half hour mark after finishing off a sweeping move.
Six minutes later, Warren Gatland's men moved 13-0 ahead when Jones collected Mike Phillips' pass to crash over.
The home side got off the mark thanks to Chris Paterson's long-range penalty which was cancelled out by Jones to give Wales a 16-3 lead at the break.
The second half followed a similar pattern with the Welsh tearing apart their opponents with their slick passing. Halfpenny scored his side's third try after Shane Williams' pass to touch down.
Williams then got off the mark to cap off another sweeping move for his 45th international try on 56 minutes.
The home fans were given something to cheer about on 67 minutes when Max Evans bamboozled Williams and Lee Byrne before diving over to reduce the deficit to 13 points.
Paterson thought he had set-up a grandstand finish with a late try but it was ruled out for a knock-on, as Gatland's men held on to make a winning start ahead of next weekend's clash with England in Cardiff.