Dan admits he was surprised at the reaction to Scotland's win over Italy last week, believing Scotland have to work on the basis of win first, worry about style later.
"We played the same way against France and everybody praised us," he says. "We did not do anything that different. We did not do anything exciting in Paris, either, and we almost got the result. We did get the result against Italy and got pelters for the way we played. The French game was seen as a glorious defeat, but when we do the same against Italy and win, we get slated for it.
"Ever since the Six Nations started I have stopped reading the papers," he states. "I can't change what is written, I don't think a lot of it is fair, but I can't stop them. What can I do? Sometimes the comments were harsh and hurtful so I stopped reading them.
"When I go out there, it is not a case of answering the critics, it is a case of playing for myself, my family and my friends. I want to win, it is that simple. The main feeling is a sense of relief and joy at just winning a game," Dan confesses. "It has been quite some time. The last game I won as a starting player was Japan (the 100-8 rout at McDiarmid Park in November) and my own feeling was just relief that we had managed the victory, no matter how it was achieved. I heard about that patch in the second half when the crowd were starting to get to us but I don't think they were really booing us, they just wanted to see a more exciting rugby while we were doing what we had to do to get the result.
"If we win every game like that people will be happy because we are winning. In the long run winning is what matters, how you win is for later. Hopefully we will build on that."
You can read Lewis Stuart's article here