Stuart Hogg prepares to get smashed © Getty Images

Pitted against the Dragons’ fire, Scotland were not quite the phoenix some had expected, but they were not quite the chocolate fireguard, either. For brief spell they burned brightly, only to melt under pressure later on.

It is hard to surmise the mood in the North because such sporadic performances can be both encouraging and demoralising. In fact, to put it in more specific terms, the team performed admirably but individuals made victory that much harder.

Chris Cusiter was bold and full of voice in the first half. He strived to move defenders before hitting Laidlaw and he was Scotland’s only clearing option for most of his time on the pitch. Then he made a blunder in the start of the second half, flapping a foot at the restart and dabbing it into touch. From the resulting lineout the Welsh built pressure and a score came.

Suddenly Cusiter’s attempts to stretch looked more like crabbing alongside play, slowing things down. His box-kicks looked too long and aimed directly at Cuthbert and Halfpenny. He was replaced.

Scotland’s team were full of moments of inspiration and despair on Sunday afternoon.

Laidlaw ran quite well and scored Scotland’s try and almost chipped his way to another. He struggled to clear his lines, though, and he could have missed out Sean Lamont more.

Indeed Lamont showed again that he is not a viable option at twelve. Too many times he fended with his hand, tucked and cut inside or trucked straight ahead. Two years ago that was great because he would push his torso through and lay off an offload. On Sunday this was never going to happen. He looked better when he drifted to the fringes.

Outside him De Luca was busy and chatted well in defence, but his yellow card was a moment of inexcusable idiocy. With him off for ferreting at Jonathan Davies off the ball Wales were a man up and scored in the corner with Halfpenny. This try was made to look worse by a poor positional slip by Lee Jones, but the numbers showed. Moments later Scotland were down to thirteen men as Rory Lamont infringed from an offside position, again earning a silly yellow card.

There were errors of judgement like this all over the park, from Jacobsen’s panicked pick-up attempt a metre from Wales’ line, to the poor pass from De Luca to Hogg which should have been a try on the kid’s debut.

Now, I have deliberately missed three things out in the first part of this breakdown. I have not mentioned how well Wales blitzed, with Lydiate and Davies leading the way, and I did not mention the referee Roman Poite who disallowed a perfectly good try. I did not mention these two factors because Scotland did not lose to Wales because of a wrong refereeing decision, much like they did not lose to Wales because they failed to deal with a player shooting out of the line wider out.

Scotland lost to Wales because they had no consistency of performance whilst Wales played in the same blitzing, slinging manner for 80 minutes.

The other reason I have erred on the critical side in the first half of this piece is because my third missing point is the most encouraging one and it is the reason Scotland were not humiliated, despite their senseless yellow cards and their inconsistencies.

Scotland showed fleeting moments of brilliance.

Blair replaced Cusiter and looked sharp. Laidlaw threatened and was always on the move. Jim Hamilton had the game of his life and was the player I thought epitomised Scotland’s spirit for the entirety of his game, from smashing George North to smothering lineout catchers to rucking and harrying like a man possessed.

Ross Rennie seems to be the accidental polymath. He looks like he has wandered onto the pitch with socks down, in the way of someone else’s periphery, but then he brightly bursts into position, chasing hard and linking play with exceptional pace. He shot through rucks and brushed scrum-halves all game, if only to slow ball for a second. He was good at everything he tried. He was brilliant.

Richie Gray, perhaps jealous that the other monster with a barnet David Denton soaked up all the accolades last week, ran as if he intended to dent the stadium. His mate at eight did the same again.

Stuart Hogg, on for the injured Evans, moved to full-back and looked like he was creating space just by existing. He burned past Lion Jamie Roberts as if he were a water carrier. He jinked into holes and was assured under the high ball. He seemed more of a skilled focal point. He scored on his debut, despite it being chalked off.

On top of all of this Scotland’s first half defence and scramble defence when numbers down was exceptional. The voices rang in unison and no one shirked a hit. They may have lost but they left an indelible mark on their red running rivals.

Scotland fans will be encouraged by Laidlaw, Blair and Hogg, Rennie, Gray, Denton and Hamilton. All should play in the next fixture. The mission for Scotland now is to decide whether they change the centres to keep pace with their nippy half-backs, careening back-row and enigma at fifteen.

Sort that and the inconsistencies may just dwindle. Things may just brighten up again.

Alan Dymock- @ScotRugbyBlog