NOW the dust has died down on the 2016 Six Nations Championship and the relative disappointment of the defeat by Ireland can be seen in the context of the whole campaign, it is clear that Scotland have made progress on two different but related fronts. One is their results, if only for the obvious reason that two wins are better than none. The other is the increasing strength of the squad.

Of course we should not get carried away with those two wins: Vern Cotter’s team still lost more matches than they won, and they still lack experience of successfully closing out tight games. But, after losing all five matches in the 2015 Championship and the first two this year, they deserve plaudits for sticking to their preferred expansive game plan and making it work, first against Italy, then against France.

The fact that they lost the other three matches by an average of less than a full score shows they were always in contention, although that is not entirely to their credit. Losing one match in that manner may plausibly be ascribed to an unlucky bounce of the ball, but when you end up on the wrong side of three close contests like that you are in all probability contributing to your own downfall.

Nonetheless, the win against France, in particular, will have a value well beyond the two points which helped Scotland to fourth place in the final table. If the victory in Rome two weeks before that was a first Six Nations win of any nature for some of the team, the home win over the French was the first win against opponents who were more experienced on the whole, who were physically more powerful, and who were higher in the World Rugby rankings. The confidence engendered by such an achievement is priceless.

By the fourth and fifth games it had become clear that Cotter now has something close to a first-choice 15. There may be a couple of horses-for-courses options from game to game, and injuries will frequently thwart the head coach’s aim of playing his strongest possible starting line-up; but as things stand, and presuming everyone were fit, there may be as many as 12 positions where the choice of player is obvious.

This is a good thing insofar as it illustrates the consistency and reliability of many regular starters: it is a source of considerable reassurance, for example, to have as an automatic choice at tight-head prop someone of WP Nel’s prowess. But there is another edge to that sword, namely, the lack of competition for some positions.

In the front row, the Edinburgh trio of Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford and Nel virtually select themselves en bloc. It’s great to have a world-class unit like that, but all the same, one of the priorities on the summer tour to Japan and in the Autumn Tests at home has to be to give more international experience to some of the front-row deputies.

Things are already moving in the right direction. Rory Sutherland, who made his debut off the bench in Ireland, is a loosehead of serious potential and at 22 should keep improving for quite a few years yet. Zander Fagerson, the Glasgow Warriors tighthead, also won his first cap in this Six Nations, although at 20 he still has a bit of developing to do before he can play long stretches of Tests - hence the calling-up of Moray Low in his place for the latter matches.

The biggest challenge to the current front-three monolith is likely to come at hooker. Stuart McInally showed up well when replacing Ford in Dublin, and the competition between him and Fraser Brown should spur them both on.

At lock, Jonny and Richie Gray are far and away the first-choice pairing, although Tim Swinson showed up well against Ireland in Jonny’s absence. The real threat to the brothers, however, should come when Grant Gilchrist makes his long-awaited return from injury.

John Hardie at openside flanker is a model of consistency and as sure of the No 7 jersey as Nel is of the No 3, while on present form John Barclay has a firm hold at 6. The one doubt in the back row - indeed, in the pack as a whole - is who should start at No 8: Josh Strauss, David Denton or Ryan Wilson. Again, it is good news for all concerned that we should have three such able players competing for the one place - but it would be an indication of real progress if one of the three outstripped the other two and cemented his place in the team.

In the backs, now that Tim Visser and Tommy Seymour have become established as the first-choice wing pairing, the only real uncertainty is who should play in the centre. It is the most competitive area of selection, with Mark Bennett, Peter Horne and Matt Scott all capable of displacing the incumbents, Alex Dunbar and Duncan Taylor.

Stuart Hogg, deservedly named last week as the player of the championship, is the outstanding member of the current team. It is thus unsurprising that there is nowhere anywhere close to contesting the No 15 jersey with him. With Seymour able to cover at full-back and Sean Lamont a worthy deputy on the wing, that is not a major worry, but it will be interesting to assess the rapid development of Blair Kinghorn at Edinburgh.

When fit and on form, Finn Russell remains our first-choice stand-off, but the immaculate manner in which Horne filled in for him against France was a major boost. The choice between Russell and Duncan Weir is not so much a black-and-white one as it was, and when Weir is playing regularly at 10 for Edinburgh the picture should become more blurred - that is to say, more competitive.

It was also reassuring to see Henry Pyrgos back on the bench against Ireland. Although he did not come on in that game, the Glasgow scrum-half made significant advances both as an individual player and as a leader last year. As captain, Greig Laidlaw is the first name on the team sheet, but it will do him no harm to have someone such as Pyrgos competing against him.

There is still a lot of work to be done before Scotland can realistically hope to be title contenders, but the increasing depth of the squad has been really encouraging. Not so much because a few individuals here and there are upping their game - that always happens - but because Cotter’s plan to bring about a rise in standards across the board is beginning to pay off.