Rob Dewey was more than happy to settle for marking his RBS 6 Nations home debut with a win despite being denied the score that would have maintained his try-per- Test strike-rate.
The 23-year-old centre looked to have put his side out of sight when powering over unstoppably midway through the second half, only to have the score ruled out because he had collided with Alan Lewis, the match referee, on the way.
Even so, the now familiar toothy grin was in evidence after Saturday's 21-9 victory over Wales.
"There was a lot of pressure on us this weekend. The loss against England was obviously disappointing for all, but we've got to keep moving forward and we did," he said. "There were no tries but it was a good solid performance in defence and the pick-and-goes and around the base we were very strong. That gave us the advantage and Wales were giving away penalties.
"With a bit more stable ball there's a lot more to come from us. We looked to get the ball wide but it didn't come out. Hopefully we can put that on show against Italy when we get the backs running."
The visit from an Italian side who demonstrated why it must be taken seriously when holding England to fewer than half the points they scored against Scotland a week earlier, is certainly a more edifying prospect for Dewey and his colleagues than it might have been.
No-one in the camp was under any illusion about the scale of the task facing them had they been beaten by Wales, so setting up what would have been billed a wooden spoon decider against the Italians.
Saturday's was the key match in this championship and perhaps this entiure World Cup year for Scotland. Defeat would have left them deeply worried about the two home matches to come in the next month, but instead there is real reason to relish the prospect of facing not only the Italians but the Irish, who follow them to Murrayfield.
In some ways this may have been educative because Frank Hadden and his assistant coaches, George Graham and Alan Tait, have changed tack lately, focusing on winning at all costs rather than performance. Yet this was Scotland's best performance under their watch.
"The most important thing about winning is what it does for the confidence," Hadden noted. "We'd lost two games in a row and if that becomes three in a row you've got a problem on your hands. Alan, George and I were saying before the game we're actually very proud of this young team but they need to win. We know what that will do for their confidence. We think we've got a side capable of earning respect."
Chris Paterson, the captain who set a Scottish record in this tournament and equalled the championship best with his seven successful penalty strikes, admitted to some frustration that there were no tries to add gloss. Yet he said so in terms that indicated how much the belief is growing.
"There was a lot of pressure not because we were beaten last week but because we have an expectation on us. Playing in front 67,500 people at Murrayfield creates tension and pressure because," he said. "I was just pleased that we had an inexperienced team that gave such a mature performance."
So, while expressing full respect for the Italians, Paterson hinted that Scotland now feel they have a licence to thrill next time around, saying: "Italy's strength is up front and we've been caught in a trap sometimes against them thinking keep it tight don't make mistakes and we'll eventually come good'. However, that's no longer the case, they're a quality side and most of them play at the top level in Europe. Some of them are the pick of their clubs."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article