CENTRE Scott Williams insisted "we owed them one" following Wales’ rout of Scotland in their Six Nations opener on Saturday, nearly 12 months after roles were reversed at Murrayfield.

Last year’s meeting between the teams saw a stirring fightback give the Scots a deserved 29-13 victory, as Warren Gatland’s visitors failed to score any points during the second half.

However, the boot was on the other foot in Cardiff this time around with Scotland only just avoiding the ignominy of being nilled – Pete Horne’s late try made the final score 34-7 to the hosts.

“It’s a good way to start the tournament,” said Scarlets star Williams. “I thought we showed glimpses of some really good stuff.

“To be a little bit harsh, we maybe left a couple of tries out there, but we’re happy.

“We thought back to when we played them last year and we were really disappointed to lose that game.

“We fed off that really and we owed them one, and I thought we did that.

“I’m lucky enough to have played in this competition a couple of times now and know how important he first game is and to make sure we win it.

“It’s a good start for us and something we can build on.”

He added: “I don’t think they were poor, we were just better.

“Our defence was solid. They put us under pressure a couple of times but other than that we felt quite comfortable making them kick the ball.

“We know they’ve got some really good players, some world-class players, and if we gave them space they could really cause some damage.

“We focused on them and making sure they didn’t get any space.”

Next up, Wales face defending champions England at Twickenham, a ground that holds some special memories for Williams.

It was his late match-winning try in 2012 that sealed the Triple Crown for Wales, who would go on to clinch the Grand Slam.

“Another one of those memories would be nice,” he said. “It was a long time ago now, too long in my opinion.

“It’s going to be a different challenge next week but we’ve won there before so it’s definitely doable.

“But we’re going to have to be a step up again from today.

“We need to make sure we take our chances. We’re probably not going to get as many chances so we need to make sure we take them.”

The only fly in the ointment for Wales on Saturday was the concession of that late try after Gareth Davies, Leigh Halfpenny (2) and Steff Evans had crossed to bag a bonus point.

When asked what defence coach Shaun Edwards would have felt about letting a clean sheet slip, Williams said: “I’m sure he’ll be gutted about that knowing him.

“But leading up to that I thought we looked very comfortable, it was just that one loss in concentration which was a little bit disappointing.

“I said in the autumn, and even the last Six Nations, we’ve changed the way that we’re playing and it’s not going to happen overnight.

“It takes time and I think it’s paying off now.”