A cloying sense of despair in the bleak dystopian landscape of suburban west London.

It can mean only one of two things. Either J G Ballard has written another novel or Scotland have lost at Twickenham again. And as Ballard died six years ago we should probably go with the latter.

Yes, the longest winless streak in international rugby had just got a little bit longer. It was 32 years old when set off for Twickenham last week, and it will be 34 - halfway towards collecting its pension - when we repeat the journey in two years' time. Of course, if the SRU meet their target of winning the World Cup later this year then Scotland could yet be crushing England in the October 31st final at Twickenham, but it's maybe best if we put that possibility to one side for the moment.

Yet while all the recent focus has been on that three-decade run of misery at Billy Williams' Cabbage Patch, I'm rather more troubled by the six-week sequence of setbacks that has been Scotland's Six Nations season so far. With title-chasing Ireland (only the third best side on earth according to the world rankings) due at BT Murrayfield on Saturday, the odds against Scotland getting back to winning ways look slim, and another defeat would bode horribly badly as far as the World Cup is concerned.

Scotland have now lost four games on the trot. Ireland look likely to make that five, after which there will be a few months respite for Vern Cotter's side. The Test programme then resumes in August with a series of World Cup warm-up matches which already look almost as daunting as anything that has come their way in the Six Nations.

With games against Ireland, Italy (twice) and France on the agenda, it is far from inconceivable that the Scots could go into the World Cup on a run of nine straight defeats. That would be the worst sequence of losses since the infamous streak of 17 between 1951 and 1955. There have been lean passages without a win, but the side usually managed to squeeze a draw out somewhere along the way.

Of course, one or two of the pre-World Cup opponents might do us a favour, as Ireland did ahead of the 2007 and 2011 tournaments, by fielding understrength teams, thereby making a Scottish win more likely. But as Cotter will also be in the business of making sure his side is match-sharp, as well as settling any outstanding selection issues for his World Cup squad, then he will also have to take a few risks in that area.

The New Zealander rarely gives the impression that he cares a stuff about what people might be saying about him, but the critics are queuing up regardless. He, rightly, points out that the side is playing some pretty good stuff; they, on the other hand, only have to point to the scoreboard.

Tricky one. On one level, there is no doubt that Scotland have played a far better brand of rugby in this year's Six Nations than they did in last year's tournament. They have frightened sides, put them under pressure and scored tries in every game. Their average losing margin has been six points; last year's average was 23. Only England have beaten them by more than a converted try. But the losses keep mounting.

Cotter says that confidence is the final part of the jigsaw. That may indeed be the case, but confidence is the one thing you don't acquire when the other side keeps scoring more points than you. Sure, they can rewind the tapes and pick out the good things they did, but nothing quite matches the warm afterglow of victory, even an ugly or fortuitous victory, when it comes to instilling self-belief.

Cotter spent long enough at Clermont Auvergne to know that there is a world of difference between getting close and getting to light the proverbial cigar. The French side were the Luckless Larry Losers of their country's rugby, the perennial runners-up. He led them to three French championship finals and three agonisingly close defeats before the cycle was broken in 2010 when they took the title with a 19-6 victory over Perpignan. For all I know, they might have played better in the other three finals, but their fans cherished that win much more.

Scotland need something along the same lines. Self-esteem is a fragile commodity and it is hard to see it surviving in the minds of the players when they keep losing game after game. There is an urgent need to get a victory on the board, but it is devilishly difficult to see it happening this coming weekend.

AND ANOTHER THING

Calls for the creation of a third professional team up in Scotland tend to ignore the inconvenient fact that there would be no easy route into the Guinness PRO12 for such a side. If the Italian sides ever do pull out, a threat that tends to arise on an annual basis, then that situation might change, but until then we are stuck with two teams.

Which means we are also stuck with a situation of having too many top players who just don't get the game time they need to make the breakthrough into the big time. In which light, the SRU should surely be beating a path to the door of English Championship side Yorkshire (formerly Leeds) Carnegie to discuss mutual cooperation and possible loan deals. With Sir Ian McGeechan as chairman and Bryan Redpath just installed as head coach, they can expect a sympathetic hearing.