Six Nations: Wales sign off with 51-3 victory over Scotland
Wales ended their Six Nations campaign on a high with a record 51-3 victory over Scotland at the Millennium Stadium.
Last Updated: 15/03/14 6:38pm
Braces from George North and Jamie Roberts as well as tries from Liam Williams, Toby Faletau and Rhodri Williams helped Wales to their largest ever winning margin against Scotland.
The Scots came into the match on the back of an agonising defeat to France at Murrayfield but hopes of a shock win in Cardiff were extinguished when Stuart Hogg was sent off midway through the first half for a dangerous tackle on Dan Biggar.
Wales ruthlessly exploited their numerical advantage after Liam Williams had opened the scoring on 16 minutes.
Williams - deputising for the injured Leigh Halfpenny at full-back - spotted a gaping hole in the Scottish back line and dove into the left corner, unchallenged, for his first international try. Biggar made light work a testing conversion from the touchline under the closed roof.
The decisive moment of the match came seven minutes later, Hogg, Scotland's player of the tournament so far, seeing red for a late tackle on Biggar.
Referee Jerome Garces initially produced a yellow card before seeing the replay - which highlighted how Hogg turned his shoulder into the face of Biggar at the last minute - and calling Hogg back to brandish the red card.
It was a hefty blow which left Biggar grounded, but fortunately, he was able to dust himself down to extend the Welsh advantage to 10 points from the kicking tee.
That lead was further extended when Williams expertly collected a high ball before attacking the left flank, where he offloaded to Mike Phillips, before North's power was unleashed to storm home a second try under the posts.
Floodgates
Wales thought they had a third try when Jonathan Davies raced clear, only for TMO Graham Hughes to confirm Faletau was offside in the build-up.
The floodgates were prised open moments later as Davies skirted down the left touchline after a precision pass from Roberts, escaping Dougie Fife in the process, before returning the ball to his midfield partner, who dove extravagantly over the line before Biggar gave Wales a 27-3 half-time lead.
Wales resumed familiar service as North doubled his tally within 60 seconds of the restart, taking Davies' spinning pass on the left wing, before charging over the line to inflict further woe on Scott Johnson's final match as Scotland head coach.
The 21-year-old's 18th Test try could not be converted by Biggar, but there was no sign of reprieve for Scotland as Roberts dove in to add his second try, completing a thrilling end-to-end play from Wales, which saw Williams grind the ball down the right before Faletau released the centre.
Biggar added the conversion and was called to do the same three minutes later as Wales spun the ball from left to right - with a two-man overlap - and Faletau crashed in a sixth Welsh try.
Scotland's best chance of the second period was squandered when Duncan Weir opted to kick towards the corner from five metres out, but debutant Fife was only able to catch the flag as the ball floated into touch.
Despite enjoying a late period of dominance, Scotland were unable to penetrate the resilient Welsh defensive ranks before Williams put the finishing touches to an impressive final salvo as Wales breached the half-century mark with Hook's conversion.