Maitland enjoying a high point of a topsy turvy year

No wonder then, that he is in a relaxed mood as he sat and contemplated the latest upturn in his fortunes. His move across London to Saracens has brought enough tries to make enough of a point that his place in the Scotland squad to face Australia again looks secure after winning his national recall in the second summer Test in Japan.

"I’m enjoying my rugby again," was his explanation. "I'm living in St Albans and getting into the rugby culture of Saracens. There are also a few Scots in the team – like big Jim Hamilton, he’s still going and he’s still quality. So is Kelly Brown. Duncan [Taylor] is also there, he’s coming back from injury and hopefully he’ll be back before the end of this campaign.

"That’s sometimes how rugby works. There are good times and then there are times when you have bad luck. Last year was a difficult year, finishing the World Cup and not really having time to reflect before going straight into the season.

“This season, I’ve had a pretty good pre-season and I feel like I’m in good shape body wise. That’s the main difference going into this season, the fact I’ve had a really good pre-season under my belt.

"It’s also great to have three team-mates on the shortlist for World Player of the Year [Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje and Billy Vunipola] but there is so much quality in the [Saracens] team. It’s only when you play in the team with these boys that you see how much quality they actually have."

Better still, he has been scoring while early-season rotation has kept him fresh. Six starts, 80 minutes every time and four tries is a reasonable return for the campaign so far. It shows that at 27 the hunger is still there as he contemplates his first BT Murrayfield start since being part of the collective flop against England at the start of the last Six Nations.

It's all good news for Vern Cotter, the Scotland head coach, and the team's supporters. Since Maitland arrived from New Zealand, he had been one of the key players in the Scotland side. Until the spring he missed out on selection only when he was injured.

The last year has seen his first taste of what it is like to struggle. The World Cup was bittersweet, with the quarter final result and his own role in that a definite downer. To make it worse, he was playing for London Irish whose training ground is just round the corner from the scene of that heartbreaker.

"I had to drive past Twickenham every day on my way to training, that was a sore reminder," he said. "Everything has gone so fast from this time last year but the boys are always going to be thinking about that game against Australia and what happened.

"That game has gone but the good thing about Test rugby is it’s the chance to get another victory and it’s also good we are at home. Murrayfield is nearly a sell-out so the atmosphere is going to be amazing and I’m sure that will help us."

While most of the chat this week has been about the game to come, there has been some about the events of last weekend, with the Irish win over the All Blacks posting a point of inspiration, while the Welsh defeat by Australia was more of a warning.

"Ireland – it was amazing, it shows that anyone can beat anyone on the day. Those teams who have the Rugby Championship behind them will have their systems and the way they want to play set out, but that was Ireland’s first game. It just shows what happens when you take it to them," he said.

"We’ve also seen the way Australia played last week. They exposed Wales and yeah, it’s difficult because they’ve got some real quality players, especially in the backs."

Not just in the backs, either. For more than a decade Australian tactics have revolved around a devastating back row with turnover specialists to the fore – the latest pair being David Pocock and Michael Hooper. The Scots have to beat that challenge for backs like Maitland to be relevant.

It's a challenge Ryan Wilson, who is likely to pack down at No8, is relishing. "I am looking forward to it" he said. "They have a dangerous back row, especially on the ground where Pocock and Hooper will be looking to slow the ball down and get in there.

"We will have to make sure that we are squeaky-clean at the contact area and we are fast to that breakdown. If they get a sniff and are on the ball, then they are dangerous people and you cannot get them out of there easily. It is something we have spoken about and something we will look to target in the game. We have a big group of forwards and we are mobile as well."