When you ticked off the litany of travails which surrounded Wales before and during their momentous 23-21 victory yesterday over Ireland in Dublin, it offered scant consolation for Scotland who have to confront the principality's finest at the Millennium Stadium next Sunday.

The Welsh were missing a small army of Test-class personnel, including Matthew Rees, Gethin Jenkins, Alun Wyn-Jones, Dan Lydiate and Luke Charteris. They lost their inspirational captain, Sam Warburton, with a dead leg at the end of the first pulsating 40 minutes.

Then Bradley Davies was sent to the sin bin – and many observers will feel he was lucky only to receive a yellow card – as Ireland seized the initiative in the final quarter.

Yet somehow, through the brilliance of their three-quarters, with Jonathan Davies and Jamie Roberts outstanding and George North a wrecking ball of energy and commitment, and the intervention of referee Wayne Barnes, who penalised and dismissed Stephen Ferris amid the frantic finale, the match turned on a sixpence – or rather, a Halfpenny; the Welsh full-back's last-gasp penalty securing the victory his two tries had helped to make possible.

Wales were by no means faultless, particularly in the lineout, which creaked horribly on occasions, while stand-off Rhys Priestland did his best to help the Irish with a series of botched kicks.

Sometimes, their pack struggled to cope with the pace and penetration of the Irish back row and the feeling persists that this is a team in the early stages of their development rather than the finished article. But there again, that is hardly surprising when you consider that North is still only 19, Toby Faletau just 21 and the likes of Davies, Leigh Halfpenny and Warburton are all 23.

To that extent, their success – and how they transcended adversity to squeeze home – was significant.

In recent seasons the Welsh have often sparkled, and conjured up some tremendous tries, but too frequently these have happened with the cause already lost or been undermined by other periods where their momentum stalled.

For Scotland, the most depressing aspect was the swagger and clinical precision with which Warren Gatland's men crossed the whitewash.

Granted, they were helped by ineffectual Irish tackling, but Davies resembled the Roadrunner, surging past his hapless adversaries, Roberts propelled himself into the fray with a rare alchemy of subtle skill and sledgehammer superpower, and North is probably as close as the British Isles has come to unearthing a Jonah Lomu.

Repeatedly, whether bursting on to the crash ball or ploughing holes in the Ireland rearguard, the winger looked as if evading tackles and making hard yards was the easiest thing in the world.

The Scots will have to stop their rivals making space, otherwise even the likes of Max Evans and Sean Lamont will be hard pressed to repel their hosts.

They need to be bold and to serve up their own threat, and if that means pitching in Duncan Weir for his international debut, so be it. The No.10, after all, is a year older than North, and has shown sufficient maturity and sangfroid to be elevated from the A team, with which he starred in the 35-0 demolition of England at Netherdale.

The Scots may also consider the merits of Greig Laidlaw, because they are going to struggle to win many tussles without creating tries and, on the evidence of the opening action in the RBS 6 Nations, fortune favours the rapier over the blunderbuss, the dynamic over the defensively minded.

Richie Gray, Jim Hamilton and Al Strokosch will savour taking the battle to their Welsh counterparts. Yet, for as long as the Scots lack finishing skills and rely on conservatism, they are never going to offer the same value as the Welsh. At £65 and £75 a ticket, fans are entitled to expect a decent diet of thrills. North, Davies and their compatriots duly provided it.