A superb solo try, by player of the match Wales women skipper Beth Dainton two minutes from time, saw her side home 18-12 against Scotland women at the Lextan Knoll, Neath in a thriller.

A penalty from Sarah Smart in the 67th minute gave the Scots, superbly led by Kaiya Glynn and Charlotte Hill, a share of the spoils on their international debut but Dainton - who was ably supported by Charlie Munday and Agnes Wood off the bench - saw the hosts home before an enthusiastic Celtic crowd.

Scotland dominated the opening exchanges territorially and prop Grace Field made history by becoming their first-ever try scorer, pouncing on a Demi Fisher grubber that bounced off a post protector, Sarah Smart goaling.

Dainton’s purposeful runs and Amberley Ruck’s distribution got Wales back into the game and they posted three unconverted tries, Lucia Davies sent over in the right hand corner, Kathryn Salter – who missed all three conversions - on the left after another Dainton break, and St Helens winger Danni McGifford sliding over after out wide after debutant Olivia Williams had gone close.

Just before the break, another Fished chip kick caused havoc, Sarah Smart gathering on the full, her conversion attempt going across the face of the posts to leave it 12-10 at the break.

The second half was end-to-end with some impressive scrambling defence from both sides but without a by-product, Sarah Smart levelling when Wales were deemed to have taken out a dummy runner. But Dainton’s smash-and-grab effort – after Amy Price had been held up - saw Wales home, as they prepare to face England at the same venue next week.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game, we play against and alongside a lot of them week-in, week-out,”  said Dainton. “Those are the games we want, we don’t want easy ones. We came out firing at the start of the second half but couldn’t take our opportunities, but we’ve come a really long way since playing England last year and I’m happy with that.”

Bitterly disappointed Scotland women’s head coach John Whalley was immensely proud of his charges on their debut. “I thought we did enough at times to win it,” he noted. “To come off the back of four sessions and almost do it, it’s a building block, we’ve got a pathway in place and the future’s definitely bright. We look forward to preparing for facing Jamaica next and will be ready.”

photo credit to Penallta Photographics