Six Nations 2013, Scotland v Italy: Dean Ryan enables hosts to find a way forward at Murrayfield But how they responded. Bullied off the ball at Twickenham, they were ferocious in the Murrayfield collisions. Rob Harley put in an immense performance in his first start for Scotland, while Kelly Brown and Jim Hamilton found just the right balance of power, passion and purpose. Richie Gray and Johnnie Beattie, two of the most creative open-field forwards in the game, concentrated on the chores, but walked off with wider smiles than they have worn for a long time. The garrulous Johnson has been a source of endless entertainment since he took over from Andy Robinson a few weeks ago, but the fast-talking Australian would have brought a nod of approval from Jim Telfer himself as he reached for the extinguisher to dampen down heady optimism afterwards. Johnson said: "There has been a massive improvement. But for us to achieve the next level we need to do this against the guys who do it best. We showed some good potency today. I will keep saying it. We as a country need to get this part of the game right. We have improved but it is not where we need to be. Intriguingly, many of the players who were hailing Robinson as a great coach last year were happy to credit Ryan for the back-to-basics approach that formed the foundations of this win. Where Robinson sought to expand the players" skills and repertoires, Ryan has preached a gospel of playing to your strengths - and, yes, limitations. Johnson is a believer too. Sometimes, I think people focus on the ending, on what they want rather than what they need to do to get it. We've attacked it the other way. We need to do the first things first. The approach brought a try, his fifth in seven outings, for Tim Visser in the 27th minute. Matt Scott added the second just after the break, with Stuart Hogg's spectacular interception and 90-metre dash for the third coming soon afterwards. Sean Lamont hacked on to collect the fourth in the 69th minute, five minutes before Alessandro Zanni collected Italy's consolation score. Not that consolation was quite the word. After their heady victory in Rome six days earlier, this was a crashing return to earth for the Italians. The most spectacular fall from grace was Luciano Orquera's, as the fly-half produced an unremittingly dismal display after his masterclass the previous weekend. "I think that's the price we pay to keep on growing," said Italy's rueful coach Jacques Brunel. Today we certainly paid a high price. The Scots defended really well and there were many issues with our speed and defence throughout the game as well. Now we have two weeks to try to understand and come back for the Wales game.