“I’m kind of tired of sitting up here and promising what we’re going to do,” Tuipulotu said. “I think a big focus is getting into tip-top form going into that Six Nations.

“I’m not going to give you guys headlines about how we’re promising this and promising that, just for you guys to create a headline and turn your back on us.

“We’ve got to regroup and we’re the guys in the changing room that have got to ultimately get over the hump. That’s the only thing I care about is what’s said in the changing room and not what’s said on the stage.”

Tuipulotu is one of the game’s great communicators, an unfailingly humble and polite man, and for him to come out as strongly as he did was not a side we have seen from him before.

But maybe that’s what this Scottish side needs – a siege mentality. Maybe the “us against the world” mantra is something that can drive the team on towards the heights that they have so far been unable to get to.

Maybe that is wishful thinking, but what’s clear is that Scotland will go into the Six Nations shed of the sort of expectation they have had to carry in recent seasons.

While Townsend’s position continues to occupy much of the column inches and air-time, the man himself is certain in his belief that he can lead this team to the sort of success the fans crave.

“I’ve never been more convinced,” he said. “The New Zealand game was one of the best performances we’ve seen.

“The 20 minutes against Argentina doesn’t change what the team did the week before. Of course we want it to be perfect – we have to be better when the opposition have their moments.

“The game the players are putting out there is a game that can take us to success, whether that’s Six Nations or beyond.”