Paterson wins in battle of the boot
Saturday, 10 Feb 2007 20:25
Paterson's kicking prowess carried the day
Chris Paterson landed seven penalties to secure a 21-9 victory for Scotland over Wales in a turgid encounter at Murrayfield.
All the Dragons' points also came from the tee, but Stephen Jones failed to match Paterson's exploits as the Welsh succumbed in a miserable display.
The untidy nature of the game meant passages of play were usually short and strewn with errors, but equally neither defence looked particularly watertight.
Early on Scotland centre Marcus di Rollo almost profited from a lax pass between Mark Jones and Chris Czekaj, but he fumbled forward as he intercepted and sped towards the Welsh line.
The Welsh nearly edged over through a close-range thrust by Ryan Jones, but Chris Cuister was alive to the danger and slid his hands under his opponent to keep the ball from being touched down.
The two sides made it back to the dressing rooms with the hosts defending a narrow 9-6 lead.
Paterson, statistically the best kicker in world rugby, did little to discredit that surprising finding with another three successful kicks, before Welsh hooker Rhys Thomas was sent to the sinbin.
The man advantage gave Scotland more territorial dominance, but they could not convert it into tries.
Paterson and Thomas' opposite number, Dougie Hall, came closest to punishing his indiscretion, but the Wales line remained intact.
The match fittingly culminated in an exchange of penalties between the two kickers as Wales, Grand Slam winners two years ago, look early contenders for the wooden spoon with a record of two defeats and no tries scored.