WALES heaped more Cardiff misery on Scotland after waking from their slumber in the final quarter to power to a 27-23 RBS 6 Nations victory.

Warren Gatland’s men kept alive their title hopes thanks to a fast start that saw Gareth Davies score an admittedly offside try and then a thumping finish by man mountain centre Jamie Roberts just past the hour and a stunning score by wing George North.

It certainly wasn’t a polished performance – in fact it was pretty uninspired for large chunks – but they upped their game in the closing stages to get the job done and reaped the rewards of staying composed.

And a word of praise for captain Sam Warburton - his call to go for a scrum rather than a levelling penalty was brave and led to Roberts' key score.

The Scots hadn’t triumphed in Wales since their 2002 victory at the Millennium Stadium before the regional rugby era and this defeat will go down as another missed opportunity.

They were the better side for an hour, playing with endeavour and intelligence, but failed to exploit the sluggishness of their hosts.

Vern Cotter’s men were made to pay when Wales clicked into gear in the final quarter to inflict a ninth straight tournament loss on the visitors, who lost their Calcutta Cup encounter with England on opening weekend.

Wales, meanwhile, have a title tilt to look forward to and Ireland’s loss in Paris means their destiny is in their own hands.

They will need to up their game after an uninspired attacking performance but they did show signs of clicking into gear as the game progressed.

The French are next up in Cardiff a week on Friday and Les Bleus, while still able to win a Grand Slam, haven’t shown much to be concerned with so far.

Wales picked up where they left off in Dublin by wasting early openings but the nerves were settled in the seventh minute by a wonderful finish by scrum-half Gareth Davies, albeit his score having a whiff, nay a stench, of offside.

The ball fell nicely for the Scarlets man on halfway when centre Jamie Roberts tapped back a neat Dan Biggar chip and he raced over from halfway, turning Tommy Seymour inside out.

The extras were wonderfully added by Biggar but it was soon level-pegging thanks to a delightful try by the visitors, who worked to within yards of the line through 21 phases before fly-half Finn Russell dinked over to the right for Seymour to dot down.

Captain Greig Laidlaw matched the exploits of the home 10 with a cracking conversion and the Scots set about dominating with invention with ball in hand and a strong aerial game.

Scotland’s Scarlets flanker John Barclay went made an excellent break from a ruck by made the wrong choice by going for a grubber past regional teammate Liam Williams when there were runners either side.

Their scrum-half made it 10-7 after great work at the breakdown by flanker John Hardie only for the dominant Welsh scrum to enable Biggar to respond after 35 minutes.

However, tighthead Samson Lee was pinged for not rolling away in the 40th minute and Laidlaw ensure the Scots headed to their changing room with a well-deserved 13-10 lead.

The visitors started sharply after the resumption yet it was Wales who struck through the right boot of Biggar following a searing break by wing George North and strong carry by lock Luke Charteris.

But Scotland were on top with Wales kicking too frequently, and poorly at that.

The uninspired hosts got what they deserved when Laidlaw booted Vern Cotter’s men 16-13 in front before Wales went close to their second score approaching the hour, wing Tom James racing clear down the left from turnover ball only to be denied by Duncan Taylor’s superb cover tackle and then George North just failing to grab Biggar’s cross-kick.

They kept applying the pressure and reaped the rewards of turning down three points for a scrum under the posts; the Scottish pack held firm but centre Jamie Roberts couldn’t be stopped from taking the direct route over the line.

South Wales Argus:

Biggar converted and Wales held a 20-16 lead with quarter of an hour remaining and it was game over in the 70th minute thanks to a stunning score by North.

The winger ran a super line off Biggar from a scrum and burst past replacement fly-half Duncan Weir before beating three more Scots with pace and good footwork. It wasn’t vintage defence but it was sensational finishing by the Northampton man.

Biggar added the extras for 27-16 and Scottish shoulders slumped, although they did have the final say at the death with a neat finish by centre Duncan Taylor past a turnstyle tackle by full-back Gareth Anscombe.

There was still time for the restart but the Scots were unable to conjure a Shane-like finish, meaning their wait for a Cardiff success will stretch to at least 16 years.

Wales: Liam Williams, G North, J Davies, J Roberts, T James (G Anscombe 65), D Biggar (R Priestland 75), G Davies, R Evans (G Jenkins 48), S Baldwin (K Owens 48), S Lee (T Francis 68), L Charteris (B Davies 48), A W Jones, S Warburton (captain), J Tipuric (D Lydiate 61), T Faletau.

Scorers: tries – G Davies, J Roberts, G North; conversions – D Biggar (3); penalties – D Biggar (2)

Scotland: S Hogg (R Jackson 28), S Lamont, M Bennett, D Taylor, T Seymour, F Russell (D Weir 68), G Laidlaw (S Hidalgo-Clyne 77), A Dickinson (G Reid 65), R Ford, WP Nel, R Gray, J Gray (T Swinson 68), J Barclay (B Cowan 65-75), J Hardie, D Denton.

Scorers: tries – T Seymour, D Taylor; conversions – G Laidlaw, D Weir; penalties – G Laidlaw (3)

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)