“That was a step in the right direction"- Ben Carter on Wales’ Six Nations defeat against Scotland

To say Wales are slowly on its way back will be a huge statement, at this time. A trip to Dublin and Italy in Cardiff awaits the national side who are on a run of 14 consecutive Six Nations defeats.

Thick scar tissue remains from the brutal defeats at the beginning of the tournament against England and France, but against the Scots, Wales agonisingly nearly made those results a distant memory.

Former Wales and Ospreys international Rhys Webb, in his round three preview column of the championship, stated that Wales needed to be braver at Principality Stadium. They were, and for some Welsh supporters, faith in the national side has been restored.

It was different to their last outing against France six-days earlier. Although the result was the same, Wales fell to another defeat, and it felt more like Cardiff than Paris after the record-low attendance in a Six Nations match in the Welsh capital.

For 80 minutes, a nation which has been split for some time following the off-field politics, due to the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) wanting to move from four professional sides to three, seemingly was in unison.

Still not a sellout against Scotland, the cauldron of noise made by more than 70,000 spectators perhaps put to bed the argument over whether rugby is still the nation’s national sport. Welsh rugby for so long has been on its knees, and the match-day 23 which Tandy selected finally put in a performance to be proud of.

Speaking in the aftermath of the encounter at Principality Stadium following yet another Test defeat, second row Ben Carter added: “There’s an overwhelming frustration, just with how close we were to getting the result and the win.

“I think (it’s a) positive (result) in the sense that the performance was better.

“I felt people probably can see the progress that we’re making. We had a good week of training, and just that good start, building momentum, and it was really good, wasn’t it?

“Just getting the crowd nice and loud. That definitely gave us a boost. We spoke a little in the changing rooms afterwards, just about the physicality, that was a step in the right direction.

“Set-piece was pretty good again, just a lot of things that we’ve been working on in the week, we saw it on the field, that was really positive for us.”

Tandy came into his role prior to the autumn campaign, when Wales claimed their first home win in ugly fashion against Japan.

But, despite it being another loss on the record of Tandy, which reads more like a journeyman boxer’s record, than that of a shining new prospect on his way through, it was his side’s best performance as they fought until the end and didn’t throw the towel in.

Wales completely outclassed Scotland in the first half, with Wales’ physicality at its highest under the new regime. Aaron Wainwright continued to be Wales’ flag bearer for others around him to follow. In what looks to be another wooden spoon claimed for the national side, the Leicester Tigers-bound player continues to shine.

Both Dewi Lake and Rhys Carré played their best game for Wales in some time, and both James Botham and Alex Mann worked tirelessly in their side’s defence, making some notable turnovers. Was a joy to watch.

Eddie James at outside-centre has grown magnificently into the championship, with his strength and rugby intelligence being on show for everyone to see. With Max Llewellyn on the sidelines, the Scarlets player has taken his chance and is thriving.

Sam Costelow added a lot of promise to Wales’ backline, but it is almost a guarantee that he will be on the sidelines for the remainder of the tournament. Absolutely brutal, following one of his more impressive performances in a Welsh shirt, perfectly silencing his naysayers.

The only thing was, Wales still lost. And at the end of the day, in international rugby, it’s about winning Test matches. Wales failed to do that again.

Replacement Jarrod Evans slotted three points from the tee, then followed by incredible intelligence and thinking from Finn Russell, who punished Wales.

With debutant Gabriel Hamer-Webb still retreating, after the penalty kick, Darcy Graham gathered the clever restart and raced over. Wales switched off for a split second, perhaps still in awe of the position they found themselves in, and were cruelly punished.

It was a nervy ending to the match. Wales gave their all to hang on to what has become a rare position since the 2023 Rugby World Cup; they have found themselves in, in front with a matter of minutes left on the clock.

That leaves one major question: has Wales forgotten how to win Test matches?

On the game-changing moment, Carter added: “I would probably have to look back at it.

“I haven’t had much experience being in those situations. We’re definitely gonna learn from it, and keep building and improving.”

Perhaps, this could be the making of Tandy’s era as Wales head coach. We’ve seen snippets in the meantime, against Ireland last year as interim head coach, Matt Sherratt’s first game in charge, in the autumn against New Zealand, when Wales celebrated four tries and were still within touching distance heading into the final quarter.

Like those defeats, it did not leave a bitter taste like those ‘unacceptable’ performances against both England and France to kick off the championship. It’s something more significant, a confidence boost that maybe just maybe Wales are on their way back on the international stage.

It’s a difficult task forthcoming for Tandy’s side, with a trip to Dublin to face Ireland on a Friday night, which is no easy contest. Then, facing a resurgent Italian side a week later, that has to be Wales’ Cup final contest.

Win that, and that will bring confidence into the summer matches against the Barbarians, Fiji, Argentina, and South Africa. Last Saturday was the start of something; for many Welsh supporters, they will hope it was not a one-off.

“There is definitely an element of that (progression),” continued Carter.

“When you’re building momentum, you want (games) to keep coming.

“The boys are looking forward to a rest; it’s been three physical games. Just to make the most of that chance to recover and get ready to build and move forward going into Ireland.”