Aidan Smith: Hogg and Russell with both be 31 come the next World Cup. It's now-or-never time for them.

It was a blustery day, Murrayfield contriving a more than decent impression of the old Hampden swirl. Sam Skinner passed to Duhan van der Merwe but the ball went marginally behind the winger who couldn’t gather. Then, a few minutes later, same part of the pitch, just below us, Chris Harris passed and this time the ball was slightly ahead of the intended recipient – Stuart Hogg sprinting as fast as he could to get there and sticking out his chunky wee arms but, ach, that one went awry as well.

Fine margins. If Scotland had scored in these moments - VDM would still have had work to do but Hoggy would’ve been a cert to have had us leading at the interval against France - then the match could have had a different outcome. I say could, because we would still have had to defend mightily to keep out a French side who don’t seem to blow up like those of old and can of course turn it on at will.

Scotland sides of old might have blamed the wind for those fluffed despatches but this one didn’t in the aftermath because Gregor Townsend’s men don’t need telling that in recent years they’ve handled the ball better in worst conditions.

On grotty, squirty days they’ve sped it right across the pitch and back again. Accuracy and retention have been exceptional. Thrilling performances have resulted. Not so very long ago, attacks were sluggish and passes were being received in static positions, the ball having all the covetousness of a flaming saucepan. Good riddance to those grim afternoons.

So what went wrong last Saturday? Well, we must acknowledge that not everything had been absolutely right beforehand. England controlled large parts of the Calcutta Cup clash only to turn flaccid in the final quarter. Scotland controlled the first half