SCOTLAND head coach Gregor Townsend has refused to get carried away after watching Scotland kick off a Guinness Six Nations campaign with back-to-back wins for the first time.

The Gala man felt his team were slightly better in their 35-7 victory over Wales than in their opening weekend triumph away to England.

And he was keen to stress the importance of continued improvement.

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Asked if it felt like a statement win ahead of the trip to France in a fortnight, Townsend said: “No. It feels like an improved performance.

“It did not feel like that at half-time, but the second half was improved.

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“If it was a seven out of 10 last week, it has moved up to an eight out of 10 and we will have to improve again.

“The next two teams we play (France and Ireland) are ranked one and two in the world and we have to get up to nine out of 10 to beat them.

“The internal focus was on playing better than we did last week. We did in the end do that but there is more to come from the group.”

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Stand-off Russell produced a magnificent performance in which he directly laid on three of his team’s tries and also played a part in another.

“Very good,” said Townsend of the number 10’s display. “The threats that Finn has around him set up opportunities. He made very good decisions on what opportunities to take.

“In November, he played really well against New Zealand and Argentina. Against England he built into the game, and today was something similar.

“I thought he was really good defensively today. He’s a really competitive player and that comes out in different ways. It often comes out in his defence, his contact clears – things that won’t get spotted.

“The things that will get spotted are his offloads and kicks which were excellent, but when he’s at that level of focus and competitiveness, he’ll deliver a very good performance like he did today.”