WALES are back on track in the Six Nations Championship after they ended their eight-match run without a victory by comfortably getting the better of a poor Scotland team at Murrayfield on Saturday.

It was the biggest away win since they romped home at the same venue on the way to their first Grand Slam for 27 years back in 2005.

The outcome of the season can’t be the same after their opening-day defeat by England, but at least it gives Wales renewed confidence.

They opened in some style with a scything James Hook break as he looked quite at home back in his favourite outside-half position, and Shane Williams finished it off.

That arrived after only eight minutes and Wales never looked back. Williams added another in the second half as he appeared on the end of a Jonathan Davies kick-through to grab the touchdown.

It maintained the pocket dynamo’s remarkable record against the Scots as he ended up on the winning side against them for the eighth time, and it was his ninth try against them and the third time in a row he has crossed the whitewash at Murrayfield.

Hook’s 14 points from four penalties and a conversion took him past the 250 mark for Wales, who have now won all six matches when he has started at outside-half.

And when he was replaced for the final quarter by Stephen Jones it took the Scarlets veteran to 103 Tests including six for the Lions to put himself level with Gareth Thomas as the most capped Welshman in Test history.

So it was a landmark victory for Wales in the sense of broken records and in the way they made themselves a force in the Six Nations again.

Coach Warren Gatland felt that Wales actually played better against England.

And his cohort, Shaun Edwards, said Wales would never have defended as well as they did if they hadn’t been playing the top three southern hemisphere sides regularly during the autumn.

He was referring in particular to the period in the first half when for seven minutes Wales were down to 13 men when Barry Davies and Lee Byrne were both yellow-carded, Davies for kicking the ball away and Byrne for a dangerous high tackle.

Yet Wales proved their commitment when not only did they prevent Scotland from crossing their line, but conceded just one penalty kicked by an off-form and out-of-touch Dan Parks.

It was obvious there was only one winner, and Wales could have made the margin even greater had Jamie Roberts made it all the way to the line after latching onto a loose pass and seemed clear only to be caught by replacement Sean Lamont who was probably Scotland’s best player.

The game’s most influential unit, though, was the Welsh back row where Dan Lydiate, Ryan Jones and Sam Warburton were supreme.

Lydiate’s tackling was immense, Ryan Jones showed he is back to somewhere near his best after a lean spell and Sam Warburton took the man-of-the-match tag after his all-action display.

All three earned high praise from Gatland, who was delighted to have got the show back on the road, as well as taking the opportunity to blood Scarlets youngsters Josh Turnbull and Rhys Priestland and giving another Scarlet, Tavis Knoyle, his second cap once Wales clearly had the game won.

Mike Phillips had done enough after answering his critics with a vastly improved performance, excelling in defence rather than attack.

Perhaps tempering the victory, though, was the fact that this Scottish team was one of the worst for some time, even by their miserable standards in recent years.

They are staring into the abyss now, but for Wales it’s onwards and upwards. The gloom has been lifted!

Scotland: H Southwell (S Lamont 20), N Walker, J Ansbro, N de Luca, M Evans, D Parks, R Lawson (M Blair 46), A Jacobsen, R Ford (S LaZwson 65), E Murray (M Low 46), N Hines, A Kellock, captain (S McLeod 70), K Brown, R Vernon, J Barclay (R Rennie 65).

Scorer – penalties: D Parks (2).

Wales: L Byrne (R Priestland 75), M Stoddart, J Roberts, J Davies, S Williams, J Hook (S Jones 65), M Phillips (T Knoyle 75), P James (J Yapp 65), M Rees, captain (R Hibbard 75), C Mitchell, B Davies, A Wyn Jones (R Turnbull 70), D Lydiate (J Thomas 53), R Jones, S Warburton.

Scorers – tries: S Williams (2); conversion: J Hook; penalties: Hook (4).

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland).

Attendance: 60,259.

Argus star man: S Warburton/D Lydiate.