Scotland coach Steve McCormack paid tribute to Wales after they ended a record 12-match losing run in the opening match of the 2015 European Championship.
McCormack, whose side lifted the title in 2014, had no complaints after an 18-12 defeat in Wrexham.
“I was impressed with Wales,” McCormack said. “I thought they deserved the win. They certainly started the game a lot better - our lack of discipline let them out of their half too easily.
“Their middle unit was good and they did the fundamentals better. They had a very high completion rate and we were the opposite. I was very disappointed with our performance.
“We came back well, we were held up over the line three times and had a chance of drawing, but we lacked a cutting edge in their 20.
“As bad as we played, there was only six points in the game and that is a positive we can take out of it.”
Hooker Steve Parry, who played the full 80 minutes, winger Dalton Grant and prop Anthony Walker scored tries and scrum-half Courtney Davies kicked three goals for Wales, whose last win before Friday night was against France in Albi in 2010.
It was a first win for the Welsh under former England coach John Kear, who was delighted with the way his forwards battled to overcome the loss of Lewis Reece with concussion early in the contest at The Racecourse.
They were forced to withstand wave after wave of attacks from a Danny Brough-led Scotland, with Dale Ferguson, Danny Addy and Sonny Esslemont all held up over the line, and they held firm until winger Oscar Thomas went over for the final try two minutes from the end.
“I'm absolutely delighted,” Kear said. “In the first half I thought we played a composed, controlled game and the first 15 minutes of the second half showed we've got a team.
“We were under the cosh and tired but somehow we found a way and I take great heart from that.
“We lost Lewis Reece with concussion and we had to respond to that adversity.”
Wales were wooden spoonists in 2014 after losing all three games but were a side transformed, due in no small part to the return of newly-appointed captain Craig Kopczak, who like Parry was forced to play long minutes.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Kopczak, who was in the Wales team that lost every game in the 2013 World Cup. “It feels like a weight has been lifted off our shoulders and we can look forward to the rest of the competition.”
Scotland must now regroup ahead of their home game against Ireland next Friday.
“It's a tough competition, I don't think people give enough credit to how tough it is,” McCormack said. “Next week is going to be tough but we can't wait to get to Galashiels. We wish we could play the game tomorrow.”
