Wales 34-7 Scotland PLAYER RATINGS: Shingler impresses
Wales started their Six Nations campaign with a stunning 34-7 victory over Scotland in Cardiff.
Steff Evans went over for Wales's fourth try of the afternoon to secure a perfect, bonus-point win over Gregor Townsend's men at the Principality Stadium.
Sportsmail's ALEX BYWATER was on hand to run the rule over players from both sides during the Six Nations opener in the Welsh capital.
Wales put four tries past Scotland in Cardiff for a perfect start to their Six Nations campaign
WALES
Leigh Halfpenny – 9
First tries in five years for Wales as he crossed in either half. His celebration at both scores said everything about relieving that drought. As solid as ever in defence and from the tee. Excellent.
Josh Adams – 7
Worcester wing made his Wales debut and didn't look out of place. Great tackle on Ali Price summed up a strong defensive effort. Promising start to his international career.
Scott Williams – 6
Missed one tackle on Finn Russell, but other than that a solid midfield operator. Cut down the Scottish options in the wide channels and made a fine impersonator for the absent Jonathan Davies.
Leigh Halfpenny hadn't scored a try in five years for Wales but scored two on Saturday
Hadleigh Parkes – 7
Didn't quite hit the heights of his two-try debut against South Africa in December, but didn't let anyone down either. Solid in attack and defence and a handy kicker, too.
Steff Evans – 9
Showed his threat with scintillating early run and looks like he's really growing into international rugby. Gets his hands free in contact. Lovely pass to Halfpenny for his second and added coup de grace with brilliant bonus-point finish.
Rhys Patchell – 7
First start at fly-half for his country and looked far from overawed. Not as ostentatious as his opposite number, but did basics well as he continued the fine form he's shown with the Scarlets.
Gareth Davies – 7
Made two basic early errors, but picked off intercept to race home for his 10th international try. After that he looked full of confidence as he bossed his forwards.
Steff Evans looks like he's really growing into international rugby and scored the late try
Rob Evans – 7
Evans is becoming a fine international prop. As comfortable with ball in hand as he is at scrum time, the man from west Wales is clearly the long-term successor to Gethin Jenkins.
Ken Owens – 7
Reliable with his darts at the set-piece. Surprisingly replaced in the second half, but by that stage the job was already done. Bigger test to come against England next week.
Samson Lee – 6
Summed up Wales' new-found attacking approach with a lovely flick pass before the break. Nice to see him back out there after a worrying achilles injury saw him miss the autumn.
Cory Hill – 7
Put in a real shift for the 55 minutes he was on the field. He's trusted by Warren Gatland and showed why here with a solid display in the engine room.
Alun Wyn Jones – 7
Industrious as ever in the tight and showed lovely hands too. Nearly created what would have been a sumptuous team try for Steff Evans. Great to see him rampaging in the loose.
It was great to see Alun Wyn Jones rampaging in the loose, the lock had a solid game
Aaron Shingler – 9
Turning into a fine international player. Tall, rangy and imposing, the Scarlets man provides the perfect balance between physicality and ball-playing ability. A fine display and was the official man of the match.
Josh Navidi – 7
One of Wales' players of the autumn and didn't disappoint again here. Showed strength with turnover on Byron McGuigan and was all over the field.
Ross Moriarty – 6
Returned to action after a horror back injury and lasted more than an hour. Didn't seem to show any rustiness and surely there is more to come from him.
Substitutes: Wyn Jones (for Rob Evans, 51min) 7; Tomas Francis (for Samson Lee, 51min) 6; Bradley Davies (for Cory Hill, 56min) 6; Gareth Anscombe (for Rhys Patchell, 63min) 6; Elliot Dee (for Ken Owens, 63min) 6; Justin Tipuric (for Ross Moriarty, 65min) 6; Aled Davies (for Gareth Davies, 66min) 6; Owen Watkin (for Scott Williams, 71min) 6
Tall and imposing, Aaron Shingler provides balance between physicality and ball-playing
Scorers
Tries: G Davies 6, Halfpenny 12, 62, Evans 73
Convs: Halfpenny 8, 13, 63, 74
Pens: Halfpenny 44, 49
SCOTLAND
Stuart Hogg – 6
Made 48 metres in the first half and looked dangerous whenever he got the ball. The problem for his team was the Glasgow man just simply didn't get it enough to cause regular damage.
Tommy Seymour – 6
A British & Irish Lion in the summer, Seymour couldn't really be blamed for his team's struggles here. Scotland's troubles were all up front where they never achieved parity.
Chris Harris – 5
Knocked on from a scrum with Scotland in a prime attacking position just before the break. It summed up a frustrating afternoon for the away backs who were too lateral at key moments.
Huw Jones – 5
Showed his breakdown prowess with one turnover on Moriarty, but his centre partnership with Newcastle's Harris didn't click, especially in attack.
Chris Harris had a frustrating afternoon in the centre for the visitors, including a knock-on
Byron McGuigan – 6
Carried hard whenever he had possession. You couldn't fault his effort, but he ran into a red brick wall as Wales came out on top. He wasn't the only one on his team to do so, either.
Finn Russell – 6
Probed and prompted his backs outside him and is a joy to watch, but this was a case of perhaps too much style when some substance was required.
Ali Price – 4
Threw intercept which allowed Wales scrum-half Davies to open the scoring. Takes a while to wind up his pass and was hooked before the 50-minute mark in favour of Greig Laidlaw.
Ali Price didn't have a great day, threw the intercept pass which allowed Gareth Davies to score
Gordon Reid – 5
Formed part of a makeshift Scottish front row and it showed. Failed to get any joy out of the Welsh pack and didn't offer much around the field either.
Stuart McInally – 5
Not straight with a first-half line-out and didn't have much to cheer about on the whole. Like his team, he'll want to forget this one and quickly.
Jon Welsh – 5
Second-string tighthead. His display here showed why Scotland miss WP Nel so badly. Worryingly for them, he's likely to continue in the blue No 3 jersey for the rest of the tournament.
Stuart McInally was not straight with his line-out and didn't have much to cheer about
Ben Toolis – 6
One turnover was the highlight of a display where he never got near the heights reached by Wales' locks. Alun Wyn Jones and Cory Hill showed him how it should be done.
Jonny Gray – 6
Rampaging early break from the giant second row, but that was as good as it got. Replaced with 35 minutes to go as Gregor Townsend looked for fresh legs.
John Barclay – 6
Quiet first half and coughed up penalty at the start of the second which allowed Halfpenny to extend the Welsh lead. Didn't get anything from Pascal Gauzaere at the breakdown.
Hamish Watson – 6
Didn't have as much breakdown joy here compared to when the two sides met in Edinburgh last season. Navidi and Shingler did a job on him to quiet his effectiveness.
Cornell du Preez – 4
Didn't provide the ballast Scotland would have been looking for. Failed to make a first-half carry and was substituted almost immediately after the second half began. Poor.
Substitutes: Greig Laidlaw (for Ali Price, 48min) 5; Ryan Wilson (for Cornell du Preez, 49min) 5; Jamie Bhatti (for Gordon Reid, 49min) 5; Grant Gilchrist (for Ben Toolis, 55min) 5; Sean Maitland (for Byron McGuigan, 55min) 5; Peter Horne (for Chris Harris, 55min) 7; Murray McCallum (for Jon Welsh, 65min) 5; Scott Lawson (for Stuart McInally, 70min) 5
Scorers
Try: Horne 79
Conv: Russell 79
REFEREE
Pascal Gauzere - 6
Allowed the game to flow and it lead to an entertaining spectacle. Gave Scotland nothing at the breakdown as Wales comfortably came out on top.