More questions than answers for both sides in Wales’s win over Scotland

Five minutes from the half-time break, Scotland had the put-in to a scrum inside Welsh territory. After three phases Wales turned the ball over and began a charge upfield through the relentless Taine Basham. Liam Williams soon had it and exchanged several innocuous kicks with Stuart Hogg. Wales kept possession but coughed it up a minute later as it was Scotland’s turn to win the breakdown battle and regain control. Not that they did much with it. Several phases down the road and very little had changed.

This brief segment encapsulated so much of the contest. Neither group was terrible. There were some exciting moments from men wearing red and blue alike. Wales’ forwards made massive strides from their defeat to Ireland last week, carrying with intensity and testing Scotland’s defence around the tighter channels.

They also surprised with their proficiency in the line-out, matching Scotland’s better-resourced set piece and mauling with technical efficiency. For their part, Scotland won the kicking battle and competed well on the ground.

But there was little cohesion and very little in the way of sustained pressure or dominance outside of a small window following a yellow card to Finn Russell. This left Wales hammering at Scotland’s try line with a man advantage but Dan Biggar opted to end the sequence with a drop goal.

This match was akin to watching 12 rounds of a flyweight boxing bout that contained very few hooks and only the occasional uppercut. They could have played in the Cardiff rain for a week before a blow of any real substance was landed.

Wales won on points — both on the scoreboard and in this stretched boxing metaphor. Wayne Pivac won’t care about the length of the highlights reel, only that his team emerged