A PERFORMANCE THAT OOZED PASSION AND QUALITY
I AM absolutely delighted with the win, but more so for the Scotland players. I think in the first half we were under the cosh and it looked like Wales were going to get ahead and strangle the life out of us.
But we stuck at it. There were a few pivotal moments in the game. Leigh Halfpenny missing a penalty in the first half, being one of them.
In the second half, if that try had stood, when Tim Visser made a crucial tackle on Rhys Webb to put him into touch, then there’s a whole different swing to the game.
It just shows the progression the team has made and how together they are. The players were getting involved and there were bits of argy bargy. There were points where the Scots really stuck to it.
Even after the game, the guys who didn’t get on the pitch are working so hard. It shows we have a united squad, a stadium that is buzzing and we have a national team who are doing the country proud.
A lot of credit must go to some of the key players for Wales in the first half. Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric were outstanding. Webb was finding some gaps in the guard position, so we had to use every ounce of resilience to stay in there and do a good job early on.
Wales are a good team. They showed that when running England close at Cardiff two weeks ago.
It was an outstanding performance by Scotland. It is not a watershed moment because we have beaten Ireland, but what we’ve done is bounced back after the defeat to France, when we probably didn’t play that well.
This is a championship where the guys are developing and coming through.
Before the game when you looked at the Wales team sheet, the number of caps is interesting. I think Wales were over 1,000 in their full squad.
There are lots of different sub-plots to this win. Scotland lost key players. Josh Strauss was probably one of the best Scottish players against France. Greig Laidlaw has been such an important part of the cog for Scottish rugby.
The way the team has reacted to those losses has been outstanding. Finn Russell has stepped up today and nailed his kicks.
Ali Price has done a good job. Finn was very good. The zip he put on his passes, the soft hands from Stuart Hogg to put Tim Visser away in the corner for his try. He was excellent for Scotland.
In terms of captain John Barclay, I skippered the squad at the World Cup in 2007 when John came through and won his first cap.
He has done a brilliant job against Wales. He has had tough times when he wasn’t picked by Vern Cotter. He has shown a lot of character.
He plays in Wales for Scarlets, so he’ll be so close with their players. I’m so chuffed for him to have led the Scotland team against many of his friends. There has been a lot of question marks over Visser in terms of his defence. But he was very good today. He took his try and put Webb into touch. The little details are crucial.
Scotland do not win 29-13 against Wales without our players standing up and performing well. Not everyone got on the pitch but they all contributed in their own way.
Wales would have known what to expect from Scotland. Everyone has seen the progression of Scotland. Where they’ve come from, where they’re at just now and where they are heading.
This team is only going to get better and better. We don’t have too many guys who are the wrong end of 30.
England at Twickenham is up next for Scotland and it will be a tough one. We need to see how everyone pulls up physically after this Wales game.
If we can stay in the game against England at crucial points, we’ll have a chance and this Scottish team believe — which is the most important thing.
They will go down there and appreciate the size of the challenge, but will believe they can do something.
The crowd was amazing at Murrayfield. It is so great to hear
Flower of Scotland being pumped out. That is on the back of what the players are doing.
The crowd are so involved because this Scotland team are performing so well. That is the key.
Sport has the ability to put a smile on people’s faces and there will be plenty of smiles today.
We had to use every ounce of resilience to stay in there early on