England must beware Scots

WOW, what a performance by Scotland. There was so much to enjoy in that 29-13 win over Wales, from the world-class handling of Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg and the terrific finishing of Tommy Seymour and Tim Visser, who reminded us just what a very fine player he is.

But for me the key was the performance of their two flankers, Hamish Watson, who came on early for John Hardie, and John Barclay. Both are so quick around the pitch and again we see the way international rugby is going with relentless, sometimes smaller, athletes to the fore in the back row.

The Scots duo had to roll up their sleeves because Justin Tipuric and Sam Warburton were again outstanding for the Welsh and as you look around the international scene, it’s only really England that haven’t switched to that kind of set-up in the back row — mainly because of the lack of a natural seven on the horizon.

England, who face Scotland on March 11, are still going for the bigger, stronger but slower ball-carrying six and halves and it’s fascinating that they can prosper without finding that balance in the back row.

For all Scotland’s excellence, Wales again suffered by their conservative selection. Sam Davies should be starting at 10 to make best use of their turnover ball and I would give serious consideration to moving Dan Biggar to 12 to offer the second playmaker option.