For Scotland it was a first win of the campaign, a first in five matches and a first in seven in the RBS 6 Nations, having been whitewashed last season.

And while Laidlaw is not about to get carried away with the win, he insists it is the start of better things to come for Scotland, who return to action on February 24 when Ireland travel to Murrayfield.

“It’s absolutely brilliant, we are delighted for the crowd who turned up today just to give them a win. It’s been a tough time, so this one is for them,” said Laidlaw, who contributed 14 points with the boot.

“Scott (Johnson) spoke during the week about doing the dirty work and we’ve done that. I’m fortunate to pick up the man of the match award but it’s because every one of the forwards has done their job. 

“I had an easy ride because of that and I really enjoyed the game. All credit to every single one of the Scotland boys.

“We spoke about our defence this week, as well as taking our emotions onto the field and what it means to play for Scotland. The line speed was there where it was lacking last week against England. We stifled Italy and that put us on the front foot.

“We’ve got a couple of weeks away now and we won’t get carried away. This is where we can start building. We need to go away and understand why we won this game and then take it from there.”