Hamish Watson was the king of the breakdown for Scotland against Italy and picked up the man-of-the-match award for his role in facilitating a vital win.

“It was something we looked at before the game, that we targeted the breakdown a bit,” he said. “We know how good their back row is as well, it was something we talked about needing to match.

“You saw jackals across the park today – I think even big Grant Gilchrist got one! – so it was just a great day for us at the breakdown but there’s still a lot for us to work on.”

It wasn’t just in the close-quarters combat that Watson impressed, he also had a couple of powerful carries, including one in the first half in a move which culminated in scrum-half Ali Price scooting round under the posts – although that score was chalked off for a forward pass.

“I’ve always liked to carry the ball, I’ve always been a decent carrier, but I’m just looking for other options like trying to off-load,” said the flanker. “That one was obviously forward which was disappointing, I should have pulled it behind a bit more, but we’re creating those opportunities and that’s something we really need to work on, just being a bit more clinical in those finish zones.

“There were a few other opportunities that we let slip which is something we need to work on if we want to beat France. Our defence is right up there with the best in the tournament at the moment so if we can get that finish zone sorted and be a bit more clinical, we can be tough to beat.

“It was ugly at times, but we scored another two times and that looks a pretty decent victory. It’s 17-0 away from home and we’ll take that any day of the week, and we’ve only conceded two tries in the last three games so we’re pretty happy with that.”