Cardiff stages thriller while Women’s Six Nations favourites show strength

Sporting theatre reached Shakespearean heights at the Principality Stadium on Saturday as Wales and Scotland produced the best match of the opening Women’s Six Nations weekend. Welsh hearts broke seven minutes past the full 80 as Scotland managed to get a comeback win over the line. The fixture had sensational tries and late drama, and played out on BBC Two. The only thing missing was the type of crowd that such a thriller deserved.

Wales hosted the game at the national stadium, the only one taking place there during this year’s tournament, watched by 10,569 supporters. The number is a record for a fixture between the two teams in Wales but if it had been held next door at Cardiff Arms Park, which has an official capacity of just over 12,000, or at Cardiff City Stadium, which holds about 33,000 and is hosting Wales men v Fiji in July, the atmosphere would have translated better to the players as well as to those watching at home.

The Welsh Rugby Union held the game at the Principality Stadium as part of its commitment to grow the women’s game and plan to play at least one game a season there. The Principality is certainly a stage the team deserve to play on and the hope is bigger crowds will follow.

Other national stadiums are being used across the tournament. Also in round one, England set a Women’s Six Nations attendance record with 77,120 watching for their 33-12 victory over Ireland at Twickenham and the Red Roses travel to Murrayfield on Saturday to face Scotland in front of a crowd expected to surpass 25,000. It will be Scotland Women’s first standalone game at the venue and when the Scots travel to Dublin in the final round that will represent Ireland Women’s first standalone game at the Aviva Stadium, for which 20,000 tickets have so far been sold.

A record crowd for the Women’s Six Nations watched England beat Ireland at Twickenham. Photograph: Colorsport/Ashley Western/Shutterstock

Wales’s round two match against France will be held at Cardiff Arms Park and they will be aiming to deliver another spirited performance, with the head coach, Sean Lynn, making clear consistency is what he’s looking for from his players during this tournament. “The fight and the character that those girls showed at the end, to be playing phase after phase from their own try line, is what we’ve been going after,” he said following Saturday’s match. “For me it was a Test match, the improvement we’ve made from the World Cup to where we are now, you can clearly see it. I was super proud of them all.”

Wales’s performance was a step up from their disappointing performances at last year’s World Cup and was perhaps their best since Lynn took over just before the previous Six Nations. They remained in the fight after going 24-12 behind and put themselves within five points towards the end of the game. As the clock ticked into the red, Wales were battling from their own try line to secure a first Six Nations win since their 22-20 triumph over Italy in 2024. The crowd urged them on but, ultimately, a fumbled lineout dashed their hopes, though some believed Wales should have had an additional penalty as there appeared to be a deliberate knock-on at the set piece.

The result was a good one for Scotland, though, and was a first win for the head coach, Sione Fukofuka, after his appointment in December. “It was a little bit tight at the end – we got our defensive play in finally,” said Helen Nelson, the Scotland fly-half and player of the match. “It’s always tight against Wales but I’m just proud that we put in that full performance and managed to get the win.

“It’s been a fast pre-season, we’ve had 12 days together, so we’re just focusing on us, we’ve got a lot of experienced players but also those young players that came in. Just trying to get to know each other off the pitch, get those connections and then show that on the field.”

The Red Roses were favourites to be leading the table after round one but it is France who take top spot on points difference after an impressive second-half display against Italy in Grenoble. François Ratier’s team travel to Cardiff on Saturday as favourites, with two out of three of the Cardiff Arms Park stands sold out.