During his time under Stuart Lancaster in England’s coaching set-up, Andy Farrell used a number of forthright trigger phrases. One was ‘cage mentality’, designed to engender desperation among his charges when they were defending close to their own line.

Another, this time attached to attack, was ‘kill zone’ – a cue for England to raise the intensity as opponents were flagging. It aimed to bring icy execution and, above all, tries.

Whatever the result of the clash between his Ireland and Wales on Friday – and whether or not he still uses the same slogans – Farrell senior will be an extremely interested observer of Saturday’s Calcutta Cup encounter.

That Scotland can seal a Triple Crown at Twickenham owes considerably to their excellence in both 22s over the three games they have played so far. Precision and pace in possession have been allied to a string of improbable defensive escapes, too many to be put down to chance.

Defence: Scrambling, slowing and disrupting

Quade Cooper’s sorcery and Digby Ioane’s break-dancing were exuberant features of Queensland Reds’ 2011 Super 15 victory. However, the campaign also saw the stock of defence coach Matt Taylor rise drastically.