Scotland and Wales fight out a draw

7:30 AM

SCOTLAND 28 WALES 28

MURRAYFIELD - So Graham Henry has stopped the rot.

His Welsh team avoided the dreaded prospect of defeat at Murrayfield early today, though there were no celebrations from the Auckland man when the final whistle blew. He was more inclined to cry than laugh after the first drawn match between Wales and Scotland since 1922.

It was a draw snatched from the jaws of victory for the beleaguered Wales coach. His players were 25-6 up and cruising three minutes into the second half.

Neil Jenkins was kicking Scotland to defeat, en route to a personal points haul of 23. The Welsh machine did not land the most vital kick of a truly dramatic day, though.

With one swing of his right boot, Duncan Hodge converted the last of the three tries Scotland ran in as Wales crumbled. It was his first of the day and did not just complete a remarkable comeback; it sealed a resounding moral defeat for Wales. Still, it could have been worse.

Had Kenny Logan not missed four place-kicking sitters, Wales would have been sharing bottom place in the Six Nations table with Italy.

In the wake of the Millennium Stadium massacre a fortnight ago, Henry urged his downtrodden troops to "stay logical, sensible and not to panic." If the rallying call had a Corporal Jones ring to it, the Kiwi's team selection was not entirely a Dad's Army job.

The 30-year-old Scott Gibbs kept his place at inside centre, despite a petition for his pension by JJ Williams, but the 21-year-old Mark Jones was called up for his first start on the right wing and the 20-year-old Rhys Williams replaced the injured misfit Stephen Jones at full-back.

Wales made a good start too, and not just in comparison to to their last visit to Murrayfield. On that occasion, Henry's introduction to what was then still the Five Nations Championship, John Leslie snatched the ball out of Shane Howarth's hands from Duncan Hodge's kick-off and crossed the Welsh try-line in the record time of 8.6 seconds.

The elder Leslie brother had the ball in his hands from the kick- off again yesterday, only this time in a defensive position. He managed to feed it back for Hodge to find touch, but Andy Moore rose to pluck possession from the line-out and the ginger monster struck from the Scottish 22. It was not the prettiest of drop goals, but with one purposeful swing of Jenkins' right boot Wales were in front with 47 seconds on the clock.

Scotland had the chance of a swift recovery, but sadly for them Logan is no Jenkins with the boot. The Wasps wing pulled wide his fourth-minute penalty from an eminently pottable position.

Though Logan proceeded to trade penalties with the Welsh kicking machine, the game started to drift from Scotland's grasp when Jenkins put points on the board again in the 17th minute. He might have done so with a conversion, but Moore's hesitant pass cost Dafydd James the chance to score in the left corner. Instead, when the ball came back to Jenkins, on the fringe of the Scottish 22, he despatched his second drop goal.

The frustration for Scotland was that their defensive line was holding as firm as in the first half in Paris. They only had themselves to blame, though, as the points piled up against them. John Leslie's high tackle on Mark Taylor was the invitation for Jenkins' second penalty.

Then, after Logan missed another sitter, Wales' overworked outside-half enjoyed the freedom of Murrayfield once again as he picked off his third drop goal. His third penalty followed soon after, courtesy of Richard Metcalfe, who chose to shoulder-charge Gibbs directly in front of the Scottish posts.

Metcalfe, the 7ft 1in giant known to his friends as "Too Tall," departed for the sin-bin as Scotland set about retrieving an 18-3 deficit with 13 minutes of the first half still remaining.

Even at that stage the task was a tall one, though by the break Scotland were three points better off, Logan landing a second successful penalty to semi-ironic cheers. Three minutes into the second half, however, they handed Wales the decisive initiative.

Or rather John Leslie did. His monster pass on the halfway line was asking for trouble and Gordon Bulloch, the intended recipient, watched in horror as Mark Taylor grasped the ball with his right hand and galloped away for his eighth international try.

Jenkins added the interest with his seventh scoring kick and the Welsh lead stretched to 25-6. That was that, it seemed. But then Scotland summoned the spirit to fight back.

Three minutes later, Logan fed the ball out to Chris Paterson on the left and the overlapping full-back cut inside Rhys Williams and raced over under the posts, a run of fully 50 yards.

It was a dazzling score by Paterson, whose uncle, Duncy Paterson, wore the Scottish No 9 shirt the day John Taylor won the 1971 Murrayfield epic between the countries with his last-minute touchline conversion.

Logan converted Paterson's try from point-blank range and though the left wing missed another penalty sitter, after trading penalties with Jenkins, the Caledonian comeback gathered momentum.

With four minutes left James McLaren charged over to the left of the posts. Logan, astonishingly, missed the conversion, but two minutes later Tom Smith cut inside Rhys Williams and touched down to leave Scotland within two points of salvation. To a mighty Murrayfield roar, Hodge struck the kick that settled the scores: 28-28.

Tries: Paterson, McLaren, Smith Try: Taylor
Cons: Logan, Hodge, Con: Jenkins
Pens: Logan 3 Pens: Jenkins 4 Drops: Jenkins 3
Half-time: 6-18

Six Nations points table