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{ Scotland's Sean Lamont was one of his team's few positives in their Six Nations defeat by Wales. Photograph: David Moir/REUTERS

Andy Robinson's final words to his players before the kick-off were to go out and really play, but the Scotland coach saw them press rewind instead and could only watch in table-thumping frustration as his team showed a chronic inability to take the game to opponents who had gone more than 10 months without a victory.

Robinson wanted Scotland to show that they were able to manage expectation but they did not even manage to score a try despite enjoying the majority of possession and making almost twice as many passes as Wales. Even when they had a two-man advantage for seven minutes in the first-half when Bradley Davies and Lee Byrne were in the sin-bin, the home side lacked the poise and wit to fashion an opening. The year before, Wales had won the game with two tries when Scotland had players in the sin-bin.

The Scotland captain, Alastair Kellock, afterwards lamented that it took disappointment for Scotland to put in a performance, the refuge of the underdog. Three tries in Paris on the opening weekend, together with victory over South Africa in November and a 2-0 series win in Argentina the previous summer had given Robinson hope that the days of one-off performances were over, but Saturday showed that progress is still followed by a backward step.

Scotland offered little behind beyond the thrusts of Sean Lamont and the Scarlet only found himself on the field after Hugo Southwell injured himself after taking out Byrne in the air at the end of the opening quarter. Dan Parks, so influential last season, was one-dimensional, the midfield dithered and fumbled and, without the ill Richie Gray, the forwards lacked thrust, bullied at the breakdown.

"We were poor and that is being polite," said Lamont. "I would use stronger words than that. We need to sit down and have some serious alone time, pointing fingers. It is time to shut doors, perhaps not even have the coaches there. We have to question how much we want this and I think a few boys need to be worried and start looking over their shoulders. It was criminal that we did not convert when they were down to 13 men and we should not have lost like we did. We were not good enough."

Lamont's angst was compounded by the fact that they lost to a Wales team that is far from vintage. The return of James Hook to fly-half made an immediate difference: he was six times involved in the move that led to the opening try on seven minutes, carrying the ball in both hands, vexing defenders and waiting for an opportunity that came when he detected the Scotland prop Allan Jacobsen in front of him.

Hook stepped into space and away from the front-rower to give Shane Williams, the tormentor of the Scots, his 52nd try for Wales. Hook was blessed with what Scotland lacked, cunning and patience, but the men in red still lacked conviction in attack. Their victory was based on defence and they were content, after Williams's early try was supplemented by three Hook penalties, to let Scotland take the game to them, knowing there would be mistakes to feed off.

Wales had gone 20 internationals since they had last kept their tryline intact but here their determination in defence, where the forwards Craig Mitchell, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate and Sam Warburton all made a double-figure number of tackles, was outstanding. They were the team reacting to disappointment, not just the defeat to England the previous week, but a gradual decline since winning the grand slam in 2008.

The players had treated their coach, Warren Gatland, to frequent playings of David Bowie and Queen's Under Pressure in the team coach last week, a reference to the media scrutiny the New Zealander had come under. Disappointing results have not sapped morale but, like Scotland, their ambition is dimmed by a discomfort of expectation.

Wales's next stop is Rome and they will start as favourites against an Italian team reeling from its Twickenham torment. The Azzurri have more cause to fear themselves than Wales who have come to rely on graft rather than craft, even with Hook.

The second half was miasmic, basic mistakes wrecking fluency. The more Scotland attacked, the less likely they looked like scoring. Wales waited for their moment and secured victory when Nikki Walker's sloppy pass to Jacobsen was claimed byWarburton for Jonathan Davies to kick into the space Walker had vacated for Williams to claim his second try.

"We have gone back a couple of steps," said Robinson, who is still waiting for his first Six Nations victory in the Scottish capital.

Gatland said Wales would improve. He will not be playing Bowie's Heroes to his players just yet, nor Hunky Dory, but his relief was palpable.

Scotland: Southwell (Stade Français; S Lamont, Scarlets, 20); Walker (Ospreys), Ansbro (Northampton), De Luca (Edinburgh), Evans (Glasgow); Parks (Cardiff Blues), R Lawson (Gloucester; Blair, Edinburgh, 47); Jacobsen (Edinburgh), Ford (Edinburgh; S Lawson, Gloucester, 70), Murray (Newcastle; Low, Edinburgh, 47), Hines (Leinster), Kellock (Glasgow, capt; MacLeod, Scarlets, 75), Brown (Saracens), Barclay (Glasgow; Rennie, Edinburgh, 70), Vernon (Glasgow).

Pens Parks 2.

Wales: Byrne (Ospreys; Priestland, Scarlets, 80); Stoddart (Scarlets), Roberts (Blues), J Davies (Scarlets), Williams (Ospreys); Hook (Ospreys; S Jones, Scarlets, 70), Phillips (Ospreys; Knoyle, Scarlets, 80); James (Ospreys; Yapp, Blues, 70), Rees (Scarlets, capt; Hibbard, Ospreys, 80), Mitchell (Ospreys), B Davies (Blues), AW Jones (Ospreys; Turnbull, Scarlets, 75), Lydiate (Newport Gwent Dragons; Thomas, Ospreys, 55), Warburton (Blues), R Jones (Ospreys).

Tries Williams 2 Con Hook Pens Hook 4.

Sin-bin B Davies 24, Byrne 28.

Referee: G Clancy (Ireland) Attendance 60,259.

Agences de presses

Labels: backwards, defeat, Guardian, Nations, Scotland, Wales