WASTEFUL Wales’ hopes of a Six Nations title challenge were ended at Murrayfield as Scotland brought an end to 10 years of pain.

The Scots turned things around in the second half to take the spoils in Edinburgh for a first victory against Wales since 2007.

Wales will look back at missed opportunities – and a rare miss from the tee by Leigh Halfpenny that would have taken them 10 points clear in the closing stages of the first half – but they can have no complaints after losing the second half 20-0.

They made a number of line breaks and enjoyed plenty of pressure but failed to turn it into points with their accuracy letting them down at key moments.

That profligacy will lead to plenty of selection debate ahead of their date with Ireland a week on Friday; much of the good credit they earned in defeat to England disappeared on a dry afternoon in the Scottish capital.

Scotland were first on the scoreboard through the right boot of fly-half Finn Russell when Wales were pinged for not rolling away under their posts after initially defending solidly.

It wasn’t a lead that lasted for long with full-back Halfpenny levelling in the 12th minute when the hosts went off their feet at the breakdown following a trademark snipe by scrum-half Rhys Webb.

Wales were having the better of it but were a bit too loose with errant offloads and turnovers ensuring the score remained at 3-3 with a quarter gone.

The visitors were winning the physical battle with flanker Sam Warburton having another huge game while their defensive line speed was stopping the Scots from getting the ball into the hands of their dangerous back three.

And they got the leads their efforts deserved after 24 minutes when Webb went quickly from a scrum free-kick just outside the 22 before centre Scott Williams flung a delightful pass to the left wing where Halfpenny put over wing Liam Williams.

The conversion made it 10-3 only for Russell to chip away at that lead when Warburton tackled scrum-half Ali Price high but the flanker made up for it with a breakdown penalty that was banged over by Halfpenny for 13-6 as half-time approached.

A rare miss by the Halfpenny meant the advantage stayed at seven points and there was a narrow escape before they headed to the changing rooms with a Hogg counter-attack and grubber gathered by wing Tommy Seymour, who put Huw Jones running into the 22.

A wonderful cover tackle by Tipuric was followed by a turnover and Wales did what they didn’t against England – cleared their lines with centre Jonathan Davies putting the ball off the park.

However, the Scots had the final say of the half when number eight Ross Moriarty was adjudged to have not rolled away under the shadow of the posts for Russell’s third penalty to make it 13-9 at the break.

Wales would have been slightly perplexed at only having a four-point buffer – especially as Halfpenny had the opportunity to stretch 10 clear at the end of the first half – but they were soon three points down.

A well-crafted move saw the visitors deceived in midfield for Hogg to put Tim Visser flying down the right and he put his fellow wing Seymour over.

Russell’s conversion went in off the left post and Wales were suddenly chasing the game against a buoyant Scotland.

Things almost swung back to the men in red when Jonathan Davies cut a lovely line off hooker Ken Owens on halfway but he was dragged down five metres short and his attempted offload to Webb went to ground.

Wales were keen to wrestle the initiative back and went for the corner from a penalty rather than the posts only for an ‘all-in’ lineout to fail because of obstruction.

They were made to rue that decision when a manic period of play ended with a penalty that Russell slotted for 19-13 with 55 minutes gone.

Wales nearly responded when Webb pounced on a ball that squirted out of a scrum only for his right foot to be in touch as he finished in the corner under pressure from Visser.

With the game entering the final quarter, Howley needed his bench to make an impact with lock Luke Charteris, number eight Taulupe Faletau and centre Jamie Roberts sent into the fray.

Instead they were left facing a massive task with the Scots entending their lead to 26-13 with sumptuous score on 67 minutes, albeit one that George North won’t enjoy watching back.

The hosts charged into the 22 and then Russell fizzed the ball to the left flank where Hogg’s fast hands put Visser over with North in no man’s land.

Russell converted superbly and then applied the killer blow with a penalty with eight left, meaning Alun Wyn Jones and co didn’t even have a bonus point to play for in the closing stages.

It’s the Scots that head into round four with a title challenge while Wales face tricky tests against the Irish and French in Paris.

Scotland: S Hogg, T Visser, H Jones, A Dunbar, T Seymour, F Russell, A Price (H Pyrgos 55), G Reid (A Dell 51), F Brown (R Ford 70), Z Fagerson (S Berghan ), R Gray, J Gray, J Barclay (captain), J Hardie (H Watson 24), R Wilson.

Scorers: tries – T Seymour, T Visser; conversions – F Russell (2); penalties – F Russell (4)

Wales: L Halfpenny, G North, J Davies, S Williams (J Roberts 62), L Williams, D Biggar (S Davies 68), R Webb, R Evans (N Smith 68), K Owens (S Baldwin 68), T Francis (S Lee 57), J Ball (L Charteris 56), A W Jones (captain), S Warburton, J Tipuric, R Moriarty (T Faletau 62).

Scorers: try – L Williams; conversion – L Halfpenny; penalties – L Halfpenny (2)

Referee: J Lacey (Ireland)

Argus star man: Sam Warburton