The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
On Wales at last
chances and bad luck and a Scottish team being praised for their killer instinct and ruthlessness when their scoring chances came.
The second half surge – too often have we seen Scottish teams tentative after half-time waiting for the game to come to them, but this time they seized it – is more evidence of a sea-change in Scottish attitudes. The way they came back at the death to beat Ireland was obviously another.
But the biggest has been the way they have shrugged off injuries to continue to build during this season. The stature of props WP Nel and Ali Dickinson has been well-documented, Duncan Taylor was arguably the best back in Scotland’s Six Nations last year and David Denton is a key ball carrier. None of them has played for Scotland this season.
Furthermore there was the loss of Greig Laidlaw, as central a figure as there is within the squad. Every team needs their half-backs to thrive to win, but this was even more true for Scotland on Saturday.
Finn Russell answered his too-premature critics from Paris. He also kicked seven from seven, a Laidlaw-esque return, while controlling the game with rare assurance. An obvious man-of-thematch, even given Visser’s astonishing and unexpected second half influence.
But Ali Price eventually filled the boots of the captain with distinction. Early on, he seemed to be playing by numbers, too conscious of looking where his runners were and slowing down Scotland’s phase play.
But when the Scots adjusted to hitting the deck earlier and bringing clearout men in quicker in the last 50 minutes, negating the pilfering of Sam Warburton, Price started to play the instinctive game he’s excelled at in his breakout season, and it was no coincidence the Scots looked more purposeful after that.
The other change was that Hamish Watson, somewhat controversially left out of the starting XV for John Hardie, came on after 25 minutes for his injured Edinburgh team-mate and played out of his skin in proving the coaches wrong. He negated the threat of the Welsh jackals and pilfered plenty ball of his own.
In attack, Russell pulled the strings but Hogg pulled it all together. What we’re seeing from the full-back right now is simply stuff to match any of the all-time greats in a Scottish shirt; he’s a thrill and a pleasure to watch with ball in hand.
No tries this time, but he had a huge influence on both scores and might have even had a hand (and foot with a neat grubber kick) in a third had Jones pinned his ears back just before halftime.
Two wins achieved, three in the championship – and therefore a positive record – for the first time since 2006 seems eminently achieveable.
Twickenham and 34 years of burdensome history is something else entirely. But at least Scotland go there with a puncher’s chance, and they seem to land more of them effectively than at any time in recent memory.