With the investigation into his conduct at Twickenham last week still officially on-going, Australia’s coach Michael Cheika opted not to take his usual spot at their official team announcement yesterday and in his stead, alongside captain Michael Hooper, was a familiar face.

Only an hour or so later came confirmation of what had seemed inevitable, that Cheika would be cleared, albeit there was reference to him having made ‘an open apology’. However in the meantime former Scotland kicking coach Mick ‘the kick’ Byrne had played his part in a charm offensive that contrasted considerably with much of what has been emanating from the Wallaby camp over the past few days.

A popular figure in his time at Murrayfield who then spent time working with the All Blacks before returning to his native Australia after helping their trans-Tasman rivals win the last two World Cups, he seemed the ideal man to ask about the disparity between Scotland’s results against the Wallabies and the All Blacks.

No wins against one of them, ever… three in the past decade against the other suggests the issue is all in the mind, but the kicking specialist demonstrated that he is by no means a one-dimensional operator as he neatly side-stepped that one. In doing so he meanwhile echoed the message delivered by Steve Hansen, the All Blacks coach last week, in paying tribute to the work done by New Zealander Vern Cotter in his time in charge of Scotland, before noting that with Australian-born Matt ‘Tatsie’ Taylor as his defence specialist, Scotland’s new head coach Gregor Townsend now has a chance to indulge his adventurous instincts.

“I don’t know if they have any hang-ups about the All Blacks any more,” he suggested. “I would not say it is in relationship to the All Blacks or Australia but the Scottish players, talking to them at the last World Cup, the belief they are getting in themselves as a group has improved dramatically. Under the coaching of first Vern and then Gregor they have continued that belief within themselves. I am not sure it is about what the opposition bring but they are starting to understand what they are and who they are and how they can play the game.

“I coached Gregor and I know how he is, also Tatsie. All the boys are playing good rugby, they are not going to die wondering as a rugby team, which is great. That is how Gregor played and he has had success as a coach so we expect them to come and play a lot of rugby against us, as they did last week running the All Blacks down to the last second. You could see the disappointment in their faces and we will probably bear the brunt of that.”

As to returning to the city which was his home for several years Byrne said that despite yesterday’s chilling reminder of what a Scottish autumn is like he always enjoys Edinburgh.

“As usual coming here, the support has been magnificent,” he said. “I am obviously biased but I love coming here and getting suck in as a coaching group, heads down and getting ready for a team that beats us in June. We have to get our preparation right.”

Hooper reinforced that message in playing down the controversy regarding the training facilities offered to the tourists, saying wryly:“It’s been a fantastic week, we have really enjoyed ourselves, it has lived up to everything we have expected and guys have experienced before. It is wet, cold, sunny one minute then raining the next.

“It has not been without little mini challenges but that is every week when you are pretty much the away team every week, even in Australia. It is nothing new for us. We had a really good deck to train on today. It was challenging on Tuesday but we have made a bit of enjoyment out of it.”

Nor was he interested in making anything of matters surrounding their coach, saying: “We are not going to entertain any of that at this point, we are focusing on the game, him more than anyone.”

Having lost to Scotland in Sydney in June they know they cannot afford to be distracted, but noting that this match represents coming ‘full circle’ in terms of their international year, Hooper said that following last week’s bitter 30-6 defeat to England this match would help them assess their progress.

“It is a good chance to see where we have come and where we have improved,” he said. “Losing at home hurts and the fashion in the way it went down to the wire in front of a home crowd stung, certainly. We are keen to see where we land this weekend and how we shape up.”

Most of those beaten at Twickenham get a chance to redeem themselves, the only changes to the starting XV being the recall for his last ever Test match of hooker and former captain Stephen Moore, along with flanker Ben McCalman who has been working his way back to full fitness and came off the bench in London.

A string of changes on the bench includes the inclusion for the first time of their exciting Tongan-born prop Taniela Tupou who is still only 21 years old, but weighs more than 21 stones.