So in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, Scotland is now virtually covid free. That has to be the case, hasn’t it, if we are allowing 16,000 spectators to sit in Murrayfield at the weekend for the British and Irish Lions match against Japan.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday announced that the Delta variant is sweeping Scotland and the long-awaited lifting of all lockdown levels has had to be put back by three weeks, yet football and rugby fans can gather in their thousands. Madness, utter madness, and certainly hugely mixed messages from the people who are supposed to know what’s going on and be doing something about it.

I won’t go to Murrayfield until I am absolutely sure it’s safe to do so, possibly next year. It might seem hypocritical, but I will nevertheless watch the Lions v Japan match and hope to enjoy it, too, even if I think that in purely rugby terms, it’s quite a bizarre encounter.

When the fixture was announced, there was a considerable amount of head-scratching in rugby circles and I have to say I was baffled at first. Most Lions tour managements use the provincial games to get players fully fit and attuned to whichever country they are going to face in the Tests. The matches before the Tests in South Africa are a case in point – the Lions will be playing sides that are similar in size and set-up to the Springboks themselves, though obviously the sheer quality of the World Champions will be absent until the Tests.

So why play Japan as a warm-up? It just doesn’t seem right, for as opponents they bear little resemblance to South Africa either in stature or style of play. They are currently ranked tenth in the official world rankings, two places behind Scotland. On paper they should be no match for the Lions, but in recent years Japan have developed a habit of confounding the odds.

The Brave Blossoms did superbly well in their 2019 World Cup – you will recall they topped Group A and beat both Scotland and Ireland in doing so – but had no answer to the sheer power and skill of South Africa in the quarter final match which saw them exit the tournament on a 3-26 scoreline.

Japan have not played a Test match since then, but did play domestic side Sunwolves in  Shizuoka the weekend before last. It was eventually a satisfactory warm-up game, but the Sunwolves gave the national side a fright by leading 14-3 at half-time before four unanswered tries in the final half-hour gave Japan victory by 32-17.

If you followed them closely in the World Cup, you will be aware that Japan have some excellent players and in Jamie Joseph they have a head coach of considerable experience and who, at 51, might yet coach the All Blacks.

Joseph is also determined to expand the player base of the national side. Against Sunwolves he gave  South African-born Gerhard van der Heever, himself a former Sunwolves wing, his international debut. He was the only debutant named in Japan’s starting XV but four more internationally recruited debutants came off the bench – New Zealand-born prop Craig Millar, Australian-born flanker Jack Cornelsen, South African-born centre Shane Gates and Tongan-born wing  Siosaia Fifita. They are now all Japan players having qualified on residency grounds.

They join the likes of South-African lock Wimpie van der Walt, Australian-born lock James Moore,  prop Asaeli Ai Valu, born in Tonga as was Uwe Helu, and of course their inspirational captain Michael Leitch, born in New Zealand but a hero to the people of Japan.

Japan actually has the fourth largest number of registered rugby players in the world, but the modern game demands bulk and head coaches Eddie Jones – who he? - and Jamie Joseph went out and got it. The Lions can’t complain about Japan’s imports, not when they will line up with Bundee Aki, Duhan van der Merwe and Taulupe Faletau in the 23.  

I am writing this after the announcement of the Lions team for Saturday and before the Japan team is revealed, so I am hoping that Joseph will go with an attacking line-up. He has nothing to lose, and if they play like they did in the World Cup, Japan could give the Lions a fright. 

The player I am most looking forward to seeing, if selected, is the flying full-back or winger Kotaro Matsushima, born in South Africa to a Japanese mother. The much travelled Matsushima has starred for Clermont Auvergne in France this past season, and the 28-year-old should play even though he joined the camp late as he was full-back for his club ten days ago in their loss to Bordeaux Begles in the Top 14 play-off match.

He is a very exciting player to watch, and one of the many reasons for tuning in to watch this historic match.