The back-rower won his 50th cap against Wales as Scotland got their RBS 6 Nations campaign back on track with a 21-9 win following the disappointing defeat against England at Twickenham.

After an injury-plagued period in his career, the golden boy of Scottish rugby is now showing signs of the form which saw him selected for two Lions tours.

But it is the work Taylor has done with an inexperienced squad in the preparation for Scotlands two matches in the 2007 championship which has most pleased Hadden.

The Scotland chief said: I said last week that Simon Taylor was back and there is no doubt that he built on that against Wales.

When we went down to London last week there was probably only him and Gavin Kerr who had any experience in that pack.

So he had a big role to play in the build-up to that game as he did to the game against Wales and I cant speak highly enough of the part he has played for Scottish rugby.

Hadden has also reiterated the pleasure he took from the improvements made within the Scottish pack, which bullied their Welsh counterparts from start to finish at Murrayfield.

The former Edinburgh coach said: We got to grips with the Welsh line-out. We spoke very honestly during the week about why we didnt challenge the English line-out when we wanted to.

I think there was more clarity about the defensive effort all round and Id also point out the game Jim Hamilton had.

Were really chuffed with the progress he is making. Its great weve got another guy of that size in the mix for us.

The progress we have made in the scrummage has also been excellent and Saturday was a coming of age for guys like Euan Murray and Dougie Hall, who are relative youngsters in front-row terms.

But we believe they have a lot of potential and its not a matter of if they will fulfil that potential it is a matter of when.

Hadden would have loved to see the performance capped with a try but is not concerned that Scotland failed to take the chance which came their way.

Instead, he was delighted his charges showed greater awareness and sharpness than in the heavy reverse against England in their championship opener.