For the players involved in this World Cup, it already seems like a lot has happened, what with summer training, warm-up games, etc, but in fact, Scotland have taken part in just two competitive games and only now do the big ones begin. Tomorrow, it’s as big as they get, as we play New Zealand, who have surprised a few people and looked pretty handy so far. A stuffy team, as Fraser Dall, Heriot’s FP stalwart, would say. They have, as expected, looked fantastic in their first two games and the task for us is to maintain the momentum we have built in our victories over Portugal and Romania.

Our first two performances have been good and bad in parts, but our goal was to win both with a bonus point and in that sense we can be satisfied, while recognising that we have lots to improve on against New Zealand and then Italy.

There has been a lot of talk about the slow start that the northern-hemisphere teams have made, but I don’t think the effect of the timing of the event can be underestimated. The southern-hemisphere sides are six or seven months into their season and have flowed seamlessly into the tournament, while for us these have been our first properly competitive games for three or four months. It takes a game or two of this intensity to become completely comfortable again in doing the basics under pressure, particularly in making the right decisions in contact.

Some players do seem immune to this early-season sluggishness, the Lamont brothers, or Simon Webster, for example. Blithely back into action they go, running incredibly hard and annoyingly fast. Makes me sick. However, the Romania game showed signs that the whole team are getting back up to speed and that we can go up another gear against New Zealand. Chris Paterson is kicking brilliantly, Jason White has made a great comeback from his knee injury and the guys who have come off the bench have made a real difference.

Our schedule has been unusual as we spent ten days in France, playing only one game, before returning to Edinburgh to play two matches in the space of five days. Our French base is the training centre of the St-Etienne football team and we could not have been better taken care of. In fact, the level of attention can be embarrassing, especially for self-effacing Scots. For instance, there seem to be two motorbike policemen on constant call and no matter where our bus goes, they will lead the way, stopping traffic from all directions. Not a great way to make friends with the locals, you would think, but we have been universally greeted with smiles and waves.

World Cups provide many lasting memories and we have already had some great experiences, such as watching the opening game in the town square along with the massed ranks of locals (even if the match didn’t go according to plan for the French), but also, back at Murrayfield, having 31,000 people turn out for the Romania game on a miserable Tuesday night. By the time we had finished our recovery and whatnot, it was close to 11 o’clock, but outside there were still hardy, freezing fans waiting to speak to us.

Another aspect of such an intense competition is that your life becomes very simple. For these six or seven weeks, all energies are directed towards training, winning the next game, recovering; leaving no room to think about, for example, your new bar/restaurant, Ninety-Nine, opening in Aberdeen next week. Just off Union Street.

I enjoy having my horizons limited like this – there’s no internet and you can pretend that your phone doesn’t work because you’re abroad. Very peaceful. Apart from training and eating, there’s nothing to do but listen to Swedish electro and try to work out what they’re saying on French TV. All in all, perfect conditions to focus on these next two games, which will make or break this World Cup for Scotland.

No pressure, then.