Scott Murray saw red for dangerous play as Scotland lost 28-18 to Wales in Cardiff.
Wales got their Six Nations challenge back on track with a 28-18 triumph over 14-man Scotland at the Millennium Stadium.
The game had all the hallmarks of an international classic, as a revitalised Scotland side fresh from victory over France travelled to face the Grand Slam champions who had a point to prove.
For 20 minutes the contest was rapidly living up to its billing, before a red card for Scott Murray effectively turned the game in favour of the home side.
Tries from Gareth Thomas (2) and Robert Sidoli, in addition to a penalty score, secured the points for Wales, whilst Hugo Southwell and Chris Paterson grabbed two deserved late consolations for the visitors.
Wales came flying out of the traps from the first whistle, attempting to crush the confidence that Scotland would inevitably have taken from their win over France, and they were rewarded for their efforts after only five minutes.
The Wales forwards tore into their counterparts from the off, snatching a Scotland line-out and out-muscling them at the scrum, creating irresistible pressure close to the visitors' whitewash.
A third consecutive scrum led to another red surge, and as Michael Owen prepared to pick and dive, Jason White and Simon Taylor prevented the number eight's progress - resulting in a penalty try.
This is a much more resilient and confident Scotland outfit though, under the positive guidance of Frank Hadden, and they responded impressively.
Sean Lamont started with the same vigour that made him the two-try hero at Murrayfield a week ago, and the entire set of forwards began to move the ball with the kind of fluency that stunned the French.
A Paterson penalty partially rewarded their efforts, as the game began to take on an entertaining end-to-end complexion.
However, then came the game's major turning point, as Scotland lock Murray was sent from the field for introducing his boot to the head of Ian Gough.
Gough saw yellow for his part in the incident - a late tackle that sparked the retaliation - but it was the visitors who were rocked and Wales nearly took immediate advantage - only for Shane Williams' boot to edge into touch as he offloaded for Gareth Thomas to score.
The home pressure kept coming though, and the crowd exploded once again minutes later, as replacement Lee Byrne dived over in the corner. However, celebrations were cut short for a second time as referee Steve Walsh ruled out the score for a forward pass from Matthew Watkins.
All the momentum was with Wales though, and they finally succeeded in extending their lead, thanks to some fine individualism from Gareth Thomas.
The Welsh captain picked the ball up in the centre of the field, and then advanced onto his own delicate chip to score under the posts for 14-3.
Holding a one-man advantage, Mike Ruddock's men were threatening to build a cricket score as half time approached, but Scotland managed to regroup - earning three more points through the boot of Paterson to make it 14-6 at the interval.
The Scottish recovery continued into the second period, as they first resisted intense pressure close to their own line, before threatening a try of their own as Paterson offloaded superbly to Allister Hogg - only for Blair to choose the wrong option when a score beckoned out wide.
Within minutes, half back counterpart Dwayne Peel made Blair pay, sniping within inches of his own individual score before producing the perfect offload for Sidoli to crash over.
It was harsh punishment for Scotland, who continued to contribute to the entertainment value of the contest, as both sides played some exemplary rugby with ball in hand.
Sexy rugby is the now infamous term used by Scott Johnson to describe Wales' style of play, and it was difficult to disagree during spells of Sunday's clash, as the ball was popped around like a basketball.
A Welsh victory had become somewhat of a formality by the hour mark, but both sides have developed a real pride in their style of rugby once again, with neither willing to give an inch as the game entered the final quarter.
Unfortunately for Paterson, his enthusiasm to haul Scotland back into the encounter had the reverse effect, as the full back lost the ball on the counter to allow the highly-impressive Peel to feed Gareth Thomas for his second score of the afternoon.
With his team comfortably sitting on a 28-6 advantage with 15 minutes remaining, Ruddock elected to give Gareth Delve his international debut amongst a flurry of substitutions.
But it was perhaps fitting that Scotland should grab a deserved consolation towards the end, as Paterson intercepted to run the length of the field just moments after Hugo Southwell had dived over in the corner - giving the final score a fairer reflection at 28-18.
