Scotland captain Finn Russell admitted complacency crept in against Wales, but praised his side for holding on to record a first win in the Welsh capital since 2002.
After racing into a 20-0 half-time lead, which grew when Duhan van der Merwe scored his second try early in the second half, Scotland wilted under huge pressure from the hosts.
Russell was disappointed with the second half performance.
“We had a really good first half and a brilliant start to the second, then a bit of complacency crept in.
“We had discipline issues in the second half which led to two yellow cards and them really getting on the front foot.
“But it showed that we’ve come quite a long way that we managed to win the game in the end. They got the ball in our half but we managed to hold tough and not allow them to get anything towards the end.”
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Despite his disappointment with the second half showing, Russell said he was pleased Scotland had kicked off their campaign with a win – and ended the long winless run at the Principality Stadium.
“I’m probably a little bit disappointed with the second half but overall it’s a great start to the tournament for us. We’ve not won here in 22 years so it’s great for us to win down here.”
Russell said Scotland allowed Wales back into the game with ill-discipline. The visitors conceded 16 penalties to Wales’ 4 in the match, and 9 to their hosts’ none in the second period.
“Wales started putting us under pressure with that and our discipline allowed them easy access into our half.
“It’s tough and it showed what the atmosphere and the crowd here can do.
“Towards the end we managed to get back to how we can play and how we can defend. We managed to dig it out in the end.
“But that does show how tough a place it is to come, even with the first half that we had. Wales never went away - and that’s the pressure the team put us under but also that the crowd getting involved put us under.
“Credit to them, it’s what we expected, but it’s something we will have to get better at if we’re in this situation again.”
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Russell admitted yellow cards to George Turner and Sione Tuipulotu were also a factor in a disappointing second half showing.
“The two yellow cards had an impact because we felt a bit more under pressure with a man down.
“Being a man down is quite a big loss, but you can still defend and still win these games as we showed there.”
While Russell acknowledged there is work to do before France visit Murrayfield on Saturday, he praised Scotland for holding on to victory.
“I’ve played in games with Scotland like that when we’ve lost, and that was the most pleasing thing, that we managed to find a way to win even though everything was against them towards the end.
“Just to hold them out, get the ball back, and almost score a bonus point try was pleasing. It shows how far we’ve come.
“It’s potentially a monkey off the back but I’m not looking at it too much like that. We’re happy with the win but we’re disappointed with that second half.
“It’s nowhere near where we need to be but that’s next week’s problem.
“We spoke in the changing room about the second half but also about how good we were in the first half.
“That’s something we will address on Monday and we’ll build on the back of it and get ready for France.
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