WE did not need any further evidence of Greig Laidlaw’s importance to Scotland, but we got it anyway in Paris on Sunday when the captain went off injured in the first half.

Not that the team did badly without him; far from it. But there remains a nagging feeling that, with their leader on the field, Scotland could have kept their shape and composure better in those vital final 10 minutes.

They did so against Ireland at Murrayfield in their first Six Nations Championship match, claiming the last two scores to win 27-22. In the Stade de France, by contrast, it was the home team who got the last two scores to win 22-16.

The loss of John Barclay and John Hardie cannot have helped either - Barclay had taken over the captaincy from Laidlaw, meaning that by half-time Scotland were on their skipper of the day in Jonny Gray. Vern Cotter had known it would be a punishing battle against France, but neither the head coach nor anyone else in the visitors’ camp can have expected it to be quite so severe so quickly.

Ali Price, who came on for Laidlaw, is a different type of scrum-half, with contrasting virtues. He is faster for a start, and can thus cause more problems to the defence with ball in hand. But he is also significantly less experienced, and his naivety was on display within a couple of minutes of his arrival as he pushed French stand-off Camille Lopez and conceded a needless penalty.

Laidlaw is back at Gloucester now, and, with a fallow week in the tournament in which to rest his injured ankle, he could well be available for the game against Wales a week on Saturday. But if the captain does not make it, Cotter will have to choose between Price and his Glasgow Warriors team-mate Henry Pyrgos at No 9.

Just back from injury, Pyrgos is joint-captain with Gray at Glasgow and has also led Scotland, so presuming he is match-fit he is likely to get the nod. But Price, while very critical of his own performance against the French, is learning fast, and insisted he would let no-one down if he were chosen to start.

“I’d relish the opportunity to start at Murrayfield,” Price said. “I’d be ready if my name was called and I would put in the same prep I’ve been putting in for all these games. I’d talk with the 10, talk with the coaches. I’d be in a good place and ready to play.

“To be honest, I showed a bit of inexperience when I first came on, because I gave away a stupid penalty when I didn’t need to. There was a rush of blood on my part. I hold my hand up.

“I feel that if we get a penalty and the ball is there I can take the tap and be gone before they have set. In the worst case we get another 10 metres.

“But after that I thought I got myself into the game. I thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. It was probably the biggest game of my life. It’s just a disappointment that we didn’t come away with the win.

“I try not to dwell on things. I’m a confidence player. I held my hand up, I made a mistake, and then it was ‘next job’ for me. I felt that when we held the ball I got into the game and we played quite well.”

One vital role played by Laidlaw is to be a stabilising or reassuring influence on stand-off Finn Russell: the wiser, more cautious partner who calls the shots when required. Given Price’s inexperience, it was Russell who took over more responsibility - and again, it would look a better balance at half-back if Pyrgos were there instead.

“Finn took on a bit more,” Price added when asked if he had been required to replicate Laidlaw’s role. “When we play at Glasgow together Finn tends to take that role more than I do.

“Finn was calling the plays off the lineouts, but we all talk with Jonny as the lineout caller. We all have a good idea of what we want to do in any area of the pitch.”

“We came here to win and we knew that if we ramped ourselves up from the Ireland performance then we would win. We’re bitterly disappointed. I feel that in the second half we gave them too much easy ball and that gave them chances to get into the game and ultimately pull ahead with the penalties.

“We’re disappointed. We’ve come away with a point. Could it have been more? Yes, but at least we’ve picked up something.”

Asked what the biggest lesson from the loss was, Price said it was the importance of composure and dictating play. “I need to remain calm. With our backline, if we hold on to the ball and go through phases then we can break teams down.

“We’ve got the fitness to hold the ball and our backline are all exciting players. Going into Wales, if we can keep the ball away from the opposition then we’ll create chances to score tries and tire them out.”