Just when you thought it was safe to end the Scotland fly half debate, along come a host of new laws and the reality check that is the start of a new competitive season. While Phil Godman, who had looked assured in the Scotland shirt in June, failed to get anything moving in the drizzle at Murrayfield, Dan Parks, his main rival, was master of the deluge that hit Newport.

Net result: a home defeat for Edinburgh; an away win for Glasgow. Not, that either coach was reading too much into the significance of either result this early in the season, but while the men from the west have a performance to build on, those from the east have one to forget.

As Sean Lineen, the Glasgow coach, was quick to point out, while Parks was deservedly man of the match after kicking all the points and controlling the 12-6 win superbly, it was another all-action display by the forwards that gave him the platform to do so.

Not just that, but arguably the near-cloudburst conditions were ideally suited to his kicking game. “I was just delighted with the way all the players stuck to the game plan,” Lineen said.

In the terrible weather, Parks came into his own, but he also came close to laying on tries for both wings, a clever low kick coming frustratingly close to Thom Evans on the left and a floated pass proving a touch too high for Lome Fa’atau on the right.

Having done the tactical stuff, he also banged over four penalties, three of them from more than 45 metres out, to secure the points for one of Glasgow’s gutsier away performances.

It was the other way round in Edinburgh, where the Scots were given a lesson in wet weather rugby by a streetwise and committed Munster.

It’s clear that Andy Robinson, the Edinburgh coach, hates the new lineout law that has turned that set-piece back in to the lottery it always used to be, but his side’s misfiring lineout had nothing much to do with the two tries and two penalties they surrendered, with Edinburgh restricted to five Chris Paterson penalties in reply.

Losing to the European champions at close to full strength is no disgrace, and it would be premature to panic at this stage, but the result certainly pricked the bubble of optimism that had been building up around the team after their preseason displays.