Here are my player ratings following Scotland’s win over France at BT Murrayfield.
15 Stuart Hogg – our outstanding threat with ball in hand and has improved his defensive game tenfold from a season ago. A world class operator who caused the French all sorts of problems with his pace and footwork. 8/10
14 Tommy Seymour – quiet but competed hard in the air and defended well. Didn’t get a lot of ball in attack. 6/10
13 Huw Jones – lovely line for his try. A real asset in attack and defended well. A couple of handling errors blot his copybook but he’s a real talent. 7/10
12 Peter Horne – pre-match doubts about his defence but he responded well 7/10
11 Sean Maitland – Thomas got the better of the Saracens man for both tries and Maitland didn’t get a lot of ball to show his talent. Finished his try well. 6/10
10 Finn Russell – not one to remember, again. Two missed kicks to touch, a feeble attempt to tackle Thomas in first try build-up. Hooked as the game approached its end. 4/10
9 Greig Laidlaw – a fine return for the former captain who kicked Scotland to victory. Leadership to the fore at the end. Deserves to keep his place. 7/10
1 Gordon Reid – an industrious shift in which the scrum stood up to the French monsters. Got himself on the ball a fair bit and did not let up in defence. 7/10
2 Stuart McInally – a superb 80-minute performance that included a valuable maul intervention towards the end. Lovely soft hands in the tight and some excellent route-one carrying. Points off for a somewhat creaky lineout but otherwise, he’s fast becoming our first choice. 7.5/10
3 Simon Berghan – what a shift! Full 80-minute performance after a six-week ban and stood up well in the scrum. Also won a couple of penalties at the breakdown and, as you’d expect, carried and hit rucks. 7.5/10
4 Grant Gilchrist – outstanding performance. The big man carried hard, put in a superb defensive shift and was a menace at the maul. He also showed some lovely hands for Maitland’s try. 8.5/10
5 Jonny Gray – see above. Flattened Machenaud for the first score and was a good link between backs and forwards when not smashing into the nearest Frenchman. 8/10
6 John Barclay CAPTAIN – back-row struggled to get to grips with France at the breakdown but there were some nice hands from the Scarlet before he was replaced by Denton. All in, not his best game. 6/10
7 Hamish Watson – carried hard without getting much change – put in some excellent tackles and was always in support of the backs when they broke. Determined 8/10
8 Ryan Wilson – a brilliant 80 minutes. Gave Scotland valuable go-forward and worked hard at the set-piece. Has cut out the silly side of his game and is becoming a first-pick. 8.5/10
REPLACEMENTS
16 Scott Lawson – unused
17 Jamie Bhatti – added to the good work of Reid. 7/10
18 Jon Welsh – unused
19 Ben Toolis – not quite the impact of his Edinburgh team-mate but brought energy and carried hard to earn valuable yards. 6/10
20 David Denton – back to his best it seems. A 20-minute cameo for the Worcester man who smashed into the French defence. His carries won two penalties late on. Must come into contention to start against the might of the English pack. 8/10
21 Ali Price – brought pace as you’d expect and linked well with Laidlaw at half-back. Something for Toony to ponder? 6/10
22 Chris Harris – unused
23 Blair Kinghorn – unused. He’ll need to wait for a first cap