Six Nations 2026: Wales take hope from Scotland loss but issues remain

Few Wales defeats will have been met with quite as much optimism as the one against Scotland on Saturday.

Granted, Welsh rugby will cling to the tiniest sliver of hope right now. This was a 24th loss from 26 Tests and a 14th successive Six Nations defeat.

But after a run of demoralising, often record-breaking thrashings, the thrilling contest with the Scots at least showed that Wales can be competitive.

“I’ve been worried for Welsh rugby,” former captain Sam Warburton told BBC Sport.

“I was thinking if we carry on, interest is going to plummet, 57,000 at the France game, interest was going down and it felt like Welsh rugby was in a little bit of freefall.

“Loads of record defeats recently and it needed something to recover it, and I felt a bit emotional in the stadium hearing the noise in there. Fair play to the fans, even after all the defeats, they have all put their hands in their pockets, turned up and cheered them on.

“It was loud in there and I thought: ‘Brilliant, there’s life in Welsh rugby.’ Those fans will walk away, look forward to Italy [on the final weekend] and I think that will be a 70,000 game.”

There is a weekend off and a daunting trip to Ireland to come before Wales return to the Principality Stadium to finish their campaign at home to Italy on 14 March.

As Warburton suggests, the Scotland game gave the Welsh fans a reason to believe they might yet finally get that elusive win.

And while some statistics offer further reason to be cheerful, others paint a more concerning picture.