Stuart Hogg – A shrewd operator. Made good decisions and crucially showed that his kicking game has turned from a onetime weakness into a true strength of his game. One of the better performers in a turgid game. 7/10
Tommy Seymour – Brought in for his ‘aerial ability’ and proved his worth a few times from Scottish kick-offs. Caught the eye with a few line breaks but spent most of the afternoon fruitlessly chasing chip kicks into the corners. Subbed on 65 minutes. 6/10
Alex Dunbar – Very little chance to shine in the first half due to a deluge of defensive duties, which he performed faultlessly. Slowing down ball at rucks and leading the line with good speed. His try saving tackle on May was marred by a yellow card for not releasing. 7/10
Matt Scott – Showed a bit of invention, often in the middle of heavy traffic but got little ball from Weir. Had to step up when his midfield co-pilot was sin-binned and looked exhausted as a result. Taylor eventually relieved him from the coalface. 5/10
Sean Lamont –Gave away a stupid penalty in front of our posts in the first half. Worked tirelessly but his lack of gas was horribly exposed on several occasions when chasing down garry owens to Nowell. 5/10
Duncan Weir – I didn’t enjoy the tactical choice but his chip kicks to the corners were generally executed well. Solid in defence and made some telling tackles, for the second week running. A good genral game but didn’t set the heather on fire. 6/10
Greig Laidlaw – Slow ball, quick ball, slow ball, quick ball. Frustrating service to the little scrum half and he showed, in glimpses, what he can do with a good platform. Had a rare off day with the goal kicking and subsequently exposed the lack of other options in this department we have. 5/10
Ryan Grant – Achieved parity in the few scrums he had to deal with and generally showed up well in the loose. Lucky to get away with allowing Farrell through at the end of the first half. Shepards crook came out three minutes into the second half. Not his best game. 5/10
Ross Ford – Scotland are scrummaging with three props in the front row. Line outs improved though. Not enough to save him from an early substitution in the second half. 5/10
Moray Low – A couple of booming line breaks. Held his own in the scrum without dominating his opposite number. An all-round solid game from the big tighthead. 6/10
Tim Swinson – Fairly anonymous. Worked hard at the breakdown, smothered and stifled in defence and solid in the set pieces but failed to make a genuine impact or to catch the eye. Will need to show some of his summer form if he is to keep the jersey. 5/10
Jim Hamilton – A penalty machine and, at times, a total liability. The English pack made him look clumsy and we paid through the scoreboard. Thankfully Farrell was off-form with his kicking. Picking him ahead of Richie Gray backfired badly on this occasion. 4/10
Ryan Wilson – Worked well in the line outs but was often found wanting in the contact areas. Showed heart and battled as best he could but looked fairly limited at this level. Can’t help but feel Strokosch may have offered more, not to mention Brown… 5/10
David Denton – Took contact when better options were available a few times. Tireless effort from the young number eight. So much so that he was deemed spent 50 minutes into the action and subbed off. 6/10
Chris Fusaro – Looked like the adrenaline of his first cap was taking its toll late in the first half but Scotlands better showing at the breakdown this week must be partly attributed to his groundwork. A good debut in a difficult game. Will hope for more opportunities in better times for the blue shirt of Scotland. 7/10
Subs
Scott Lawson – Put Ford out of his misery early in the second period and almost immediately gave away two penalties in consecutives scrums. Did that scuttling thing he does when ball carrying, to not much effect. 4/10
Alisdair Dickinson – Like his predecessor was stepped in midfield by Farrell but managed to recover. Part of a period of poor scrum work by Scotland but put in an honest, if limited, shift. 5/10
Geoff Cross – Came into things late. Got a good cheer. Wore a scrum cap. We like Geoff. 5/10
Johnnie Beattie – Entered the fray on 52 minutes to add some spark in attack.Succeeded in making things a bit more dynamic at the breakdown and was part of several good breaks late in the game. Should have started. 7/10
Chris Cusiter – A popular substitute in the 65th minute. Tried to speed things up amongst tired bodies but just couldn’t get his hands on it. Given the armband as compensation but was very much skippering a sinking ship. 6/10
Duncan Taylor – Came on for Matt Scott with 7 minutes left. Left little impression. 5/10
Max Evans – Came on for Seymour, tried his best to impose his speed on the game but ended up defending and rucking most of the time. The poor lad. 5/10
Jonny Gray – Got 10 minutes at the end after everyone’s patience with Jim Hamilton wore out. 5/10