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Holders Wales back to winning ways
 Thomas goes over for his first try as Wales prove too strong for Scotland CARDIFF, Wales -- Holders Wales got back to Six Nations winning ways with a 28-18 victory over Scotland - aided by a 23rd-minute red card for visiting lock Scott Murray. Wales, beaten 47-13 by England last week, grabbed an early penalty try and added three more tries, two by captain Gareth Thomas, after the dismissal. Scotland, on a high after last week's shock 20-16 win over France, showed spirit and ended on the offensive with late tries for Hugo Southwell and Chris Paterson, who also kicked eight points. The result leaves Wales, Scotland, Ireland and France all on one win from two games with England, 31-16 victors over Italy on Saturday, top of the table with two wins out of two. Wales started strongly and their forwards had the Scottish scrum in disarray. After several warnings New Zealand referee Steve Walsh awarded a penalty try when the desperate Scots piled in from the side in an attempt to drag down a maul as it headed for the line. The Scots settled and Paterson landed a penalty but their hopes, and those of a close match, evaporated in the 23rd minute. Former captain and British and Irish Lion Murray, playing his 73rd match for Scotland, was red carded for kicking out and catching Ian Gough in the face in retaliation for a late tackle. After two disallowed tries, Wales finally managed a legitimate score in the 33rd minute. Captain Thomas, operating briefly at center while Hal Luscombe was off for treatment, saw some space behind the Scottish line, chipped and collected to score under the posts. Jones was successful with the conversion to give Wales a 14-6 halftime lead. Scotland stuck to their defensive duties well after the restart but it was only a matter of time before Wales's numerical advantage began to tell. The next breakthrough came in the 53rd minute when a neat side-step by impressive scrumhalf Dwayne Peel opened the way for lock Robert Sidoli to dive over. Peel was the key again in the 62nd when, after Paterson was dispossessed trying to run the ball from his own 22, he blazed through before unloading to his captain to score his second. The Millennium Stadium crowd settled down to await a late avalanche of points but it was not to be as instead the Scots began to apply pressure. They got their reward with a 78th-minute try for fullback Southwell and, as Wales threw it around desperately, Paterson intercepted a Martyn Williams pass to run 80 meters to score. "It was important for us to get the win, we knuckled down to a hard week's work and got the reward today," said Peel. "(After the red card) it was important to stick to the pattern we came into the game with. We played some good stuff at times, it was a bit frantic at times but we dug in." Coach Mike Ruddock, who kept faith with the players beaten by England last week, said: "The key point for me was them being a man down wasn't going to be enough to win it on its own, we had to keep working and that's what we did. "We wanted to do the basics well but not lose sight of our open rugby. "Scotland showed how proud they were by coming back but for us it was about getting the result today." Wales next face Ireland in Dublin in two weeks, when Scotland host England. 
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