David sole

Scotland spoiled an accomplished and professional performance at Murrayfield yesterday by allowing Italy into the game to give some respectability to the scoreline.

With the final quarter beginning and the home team 30 points ahead, they really should have kicked on and put the Azzurri to the sword.

Instead, the team seemed to sit back and relax having done most of the hard work, which just allowed Italy back into the game.

All in all, there were some very good things about Scotland’s performance, but also some pretty ordinary things.

The tight five worked hard in both set pieces and the loose and they laid much of the foundation of the success.

Jamie Ritchie in the back row got through a mountain of work, but the blend of the back row didn’t seem quite right to me.

Ryan Wilson lacks real power carrying, so when Josh Strauss replaced Sam Skinner the blend improved, but Hamish Watson’s grit was really missed.

For all of his leadership qualities – and Greig Laidlaw has many – when the game was crying out for pace, he slowed things down at the base of the breakdown.

Laidlaw seems like he has to be the one making the decisions and until he is clear what decision he has made, he won’t release the ball.

‘ There were some very good things, but also some pretty ordinary

In fact, Scotland have some other great decision makers and Laidlaw needs to learn to trust them more in my view.

Scotland are at their most threatening when they inject pace into the game – something that the Irish are adept at preventing.

Elsewhere, Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg were at their ebullient best. Russell’s deft kicking and sublime passing was in stark contrast to anything that has been on show to date and Hogg’s counter-attacking threat was a real boost to Scotland.

Yet two tries were conceded down Tommy Seymour’s wing and it was an area that Italy exposed.

Seymour made one fine break, but has not recovered the form that earned him a place on the Lions tour quite yet and he is under pressure from the likes of Darcy Graham.

By contrast, Blair Kinghorn looked totally at home – his hat-trick of tries the key difference between the teams.

Kinghorn, a full-back normally, looks totally secure under the high ball and went looking for work off his wing – it’s unlikely that he will give way if Sean Maitland’s hamstring recovers.

Maximum points from game one is good, but the report card will say some significant improvements are needed if Scotland are to prove themselves as real contenders for the title this year.

Italy could have been a banana skin. But for most of the match Scotland looked secure. They will have to do better for all 80 minutes next weekend to defeat Ireland.