The women's Six Nations championship kicked off in fine form this weekend, with a series of incredibly entertaining matches taking place across France, Italy and Wales. France and England kicked off their tournaments in fine style, seeing off Ireland and Italy by high margins respectively.
The game of the weekend, however, came in the form of a British derby between Wales and Scotland. Just a couple of months ago the men's version of the competition had pitted these two sides against each other in the opener, with the women's turning out to be just as close.
It was a match that finished in dramatic circumstances, with Scotland holding on to an incredibly slender two point lead. The northern challengers had backed their Welsh competitors against a wall as the clock trickled over the 80 minute mark. The home side appeared devoid of ideas and struggling to progress into their Scottish half.
In an act of perceived desperation, the Wales scrum half decided to box kick in an attempt to regain the ball further up the pitch. Instead, the ball flew straight into touch, signaling an away victory for Scotland.
Discussing the bizarre ending to the match, former Wales international Tom Shanklin put the decision down to a "lack of game understanding".
“Wales got themselves right back into it, but it's not just down to one person” the former Wales international said, adding: “Everyone was shaped to box kick.“
Going on to explain the process that Wales should have followed, Shanklin said:
“You’ve got to keep the ball in hand but it's difficult to score from near your own 22. You keep the ball and you put pressure on teams, you try to win a penalty which gets you territory and possession.”
“There's a bit of a lack of communication there, maybe a little bit of lack of game understanding because you keep the ball when you're two points behind - anything can happen.”
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