Scotland 13 - 26 Wales

At several points I thought my prediction (Wales by 20 points) was going to be dramatically wrong in the opposite direction. For the first 50 minutes or so Wales were utterly dominant, and Scotland looked like they'd forgotten how to play the game. If Wales had been ruthless and kept playing to their peak, it could easily have been a 40 point margin.

As it was, Wales took their foot off the accelerator, Martyn Williams got sent to the sin bin in a decision I still think was borderline whether it was even a penalty (but I will admit to bias) and that let Scotland start playing faster and looking more dangerous. They found a bit more space on the park, and exploited it, although only once. However, that foot-lifting really only happened once the match was put away, and although there was one moment when the space was exploited and another when it was close, the defence suddenly clicked back into gear and although Scotland tried to attack they lost the ability to penetrate the red line.

Wales also destroyed the Scottish scrum, routinely and often.

Unlike either match yesterday, this was dominant rugby played by a skillful team. They stopped Scotland playing in a way that none of the teams of yesterday managed against their opponents. it didn't make for a match that engaged the neutrals in the way that Ireland v France did, but it did suggest that Wales to win the 6N is a good bet, and a grand slam repeat isn't that unlikely.

Oh, and for the red Lions shirts in the summer? On today's performance expect a lot of players used to wearing red, some used to wearing green. Blue or white your colours? Oops.