As expected there are plenty of Scots in this week’s selection, which ended up being more of a case of who played fairly well as opposed to who played exceptionally.

1 – Cian Healy (Ireland) Not his best game ever, and blighted somewhat by his citing, but without any real standouts at loosehead this week he wins a coin toss decision over Ryan Grant.

2 – Rory Best (Ireland) Edges ever further from the other Lions contenders with another strong performance. One of the few to best his immediate opponent.

3 – Euan Murray (Scotland) Played his best game for Scotland in ages. Solid as ever in the scrum and a big effort defending around the fringes.

4 – Ian Evans (Wales) A tough call between he and his second row partner Andrew Coombs, the Osprey gets the nod for his extra grunt in the tight. Slowly regaining his match fitness just when his country needs him most.

5 – Geoff Parling (England) Another dominant lineout effort and a more complete performance than the week before. Came out on top in his personal duel with Donnacha Ryan.

6 – Rob Harley (Scotland) The big lad marked his first test start with an excellent performance. Every bit as abrasive and scrappy as advertised, he could quickly become a regular in the Scottish side.

7 – Chris Robshaw (England) Epitomised the English effort with his doggedness. Quickly developing into a truly world class captain.

8 – Johnnie Beattie (Scotland) Didn’t lead in the tackle stats that some seem to use as their only criteria for selection, but he did everything else. The comeback story of the season.

9 – Greig Laidlaw (Scotland) Enjoying his return to the no9 jersey and Chris Cusiter will find it very difficult to dislodge him now. Controlled the game and took the pressure off Ruaridh Jackson with his accurate kicking from tee and hand.

10 – Owen Farrell (England) Another no-frill, no-nonsense performance that gives his teammates confidence. He might not be the most exciting player ever, but he’s as competitive as it gets.

11 – Tim Visser (Scotland) Not a perfect performance by any means, but finished his try well and threatened when he had the ball.

12 – Matt Scott (Scotland) Scored a try and had another called back in what was by some distance his best performance in test rugby. Now needs to show he can perform that was consistently.

13 – Mathieu Bastareaud (France) Just about the only French player worth talking about. Savage tackles and beastly runs, he set targets that his team simply failed to take advantage of.

14 – Sean Maitland (Scotland) Instead of big runs it was his tidy offloading game that impressed. Defended well and making his adjustment to test rugby look easy.

15 – Stuart Hogg (Scotland) Just fends off the challenge of Leigh Halfpenny with his second outstanding game in succession. Arguably the most exciting young player in the northern hemisphere at the moment.