Scotland removed another metaphorical monkey from their back on Saturday afternoon with a convincing but far from comfortable first win over the Welsh in 10 years. In another “game of two halves” Scotland showed far greater cutting edge to outscore their Celtic cousins by 20-0 in the second period but will need to come up with an 80 minute performance if they want to mount a serious challenge for the title starting at Twickenham in two weeks time.

1. Gordon Reid – 6
Big Gordy came in and at least avoided the shambles that was the Scottish scrum in Paris although he was undoubtedly helped by some indecisive officiating which meant that we waited until the 42nd minute for the first completed scrum. Also completed wrecked a Welsh ruck in a promising position which led to a crucial turnover in the first half.

2. Fraser Brown – 6
The Glasgow hooker hit his jumpers all afternoon including a very risky over the top throw on his own 5m line. Strong in the loose as usual but we didn’t see as much from him with ball in hand as we might have expected.

3. Zander Fagerson – 7
Still very much a work in progress in the scrum, his natural brute strength is overcoming some technical deficiencies at the moment but he carried hard all day replacing some of the carries that the injured Strauss might have otherwise made. Managed to go the full 80mins for the second time in three matches.

4. Richie Gray – 6.5
Gray Sr. probably just managed to get the edge on the Welsh lineout overall and worked hard all day but not as conspicuous as he was in the first two games

5. Jonny Gray – 6
Scotland’s domination of possession in the second half meant that Gray Jr’s tackle stats looked worryingly human this week. Clearly targeted by the Welsh as a key ball carrier Jonny was met with two Welsh tacklers on or behind the gain line all through the first half, doing well just to retain the ball on some occasions. Did well to adjust tactics in the second half, tipping the ball on to a second forward a couple of times including a couple of nice inside passes which proved more effective. Imagine the biggest, slowest fly-half you have ever seen…

6. John Barclay – 7
The Scarlets standout was a calming presence in his first start as Captain and seemed to have a decent rapport with the infuriatingly inconsistent referee. Burrowed away at the breakdown and got away with slowing down a lot of Welsh ball as well as carrying hard if not very effectively.

7. John Hardie – 5
Hardie had very little impact in the 23 mins he was on the pitch but his injury was a major factor in the result on the day as he gave way to the most Scottish sounding man on the planet. In a game where Warburton and Tipuric, two nailed on Lions both played very well, Hamish Watson was by far the best openside on the pitch. He carried ferociously, tackled his heart out and made two absolutely key turnovers which killed Welsh momentum. I have absolutely no idea why the otherwise excellent Vern Cotter started him on the bench. No doubt Watson will end up touring with Scotland and not the Lions this summer as Gatland will rely on experience and players he knows, but on form Watson should be in the mix. Looks like a moderately affluent man’s Sean O’Brien and is getting better with every match.

8. Ryan Wilson – 7
The reigning West of Scotland Kebab Shop Champion had a lot to live up to after Strauss’s heroics against the French but Wilson ended up with more carries and metres made than any of his team mates on the day. Wilson is a “glue” player, not hugely physically talented in any one area, he is consistently good at everything, allows others to shine and keeps the team together. Which is why Cotter keeps picking him. His discipline has also improved massively this season.

9. Ali Price – 6.5
In a battle of impressively coiffured scrum halves, the Weegie No 9 managed to cling on by his fingernails against Rhys Webb. His service was quicker and more accurate than Laidlaw’s and its no accident that Russell had his best game of the Championship playing outside Price. Nice break through a ruck in the second half too.

10. Finn Russell – 7.5
Perfect from the tee and no major howlers from hand for the ex Stirling stonemason were just the bare bones of an excellent performance from Russell. Once given some front foot ball in the second half and clearly more comfortable playing outside Ali Price, Russell pulled and stretched the Welsh defence into uncomfortable positions before unleashing a bullet pass to create the second try. Russell and Hogg playing off each other will be giving Paul Gustard some sleepless nights over the next two weeks.

11. Tim Visser – 8
It turned out I was right, all week I thought that the battle between the two giant wingers might be decisive but to be honest I had assumed that it would be Visser that was shown up defensively and under the high ball. Instead the big Dutchman played his best game for Scotland, dominating his more illustrious opposite number who looked flat footed and out of sorts. Visser on the other hand chased kicks as if his life depended on it, beat North in the 5m channel twice and held his position beautifully to take the flick pass from Hogg for his try. Again North will be in NZ this summer and Visser will not but anybody watching the video of this match will wonder why.

12. Alex Dunbar – 7.5
Dunbar hasn’t had much chance to stretch his legs in attack during this championship but his defensive work has been sublime. Currently topping the charts with more turnovers won than ANY other player in the tournament Dunbar has become the black hole where opposing attacks come to die.

13. Huw Jones – 5
Third successive quiet match for the “next big thing” in Scottish rugby who is quickly learning the difference in intensity between Super Rugby, an Autumn International and the Six Nations. Nice dummy line for the try though.

14. Tommy Seymour – 7
Superb finish for his try although I personally thought it would have been a penalty try if he hadn’t dotted it down as Scott Williams clearly hit him above around the neck. Seymour also made sure the touch judge saw Webb’s very subtle pull which opened the way for Wales’ disallowed try in the first half.

15. Stuart Hogg – 8
Firstly, Hogg was badly caught out of position for Liam Williams try. As for the other 79 minutes of the match… Clearly the Lions No15 debate has been over for a while but on Saturday it was Hogg’s creative skills that were on show rather than his finishing. His delayed pass for the first try and his fast hands for the second were high degree of difficulty moves made to look ridiculously simple. Thank God there are only two games to go, running out of superlatives.

Replacements

See above for Hamish Watson. Dell and Ford came on and buzzed about in the loose and looked solid in the set piece; Pyrgos came on at 55 mins for the busy Ali Price and got the pack moving forwards; Swinson, Berghan, Bennett and Weir not required.

By Stephen Smith