IT IS the end of the Six Nations Championship, and the end of an era too with the impending departure of Vern Cotter, but Scotland can prove today that it is by no means the end of the road for this particular group of players. Indeed, if they beat Italy well and come second in the final table, they will both provide proof of the progress they have made under Cotter, and offer firm evidence to suggest that they can keep on improving for some time to come.

To do that, of course, they will have to put last week’s nightmare game against England out of their minds, and rekindle the spirit of self-belief that has seen them defeat Ireland and Wales already, and stay in contention to pick up a losing bonus point at the end of a punishing match in Paris. The self-discipline will need to return too, after it well nigh evaporated at Twickenham - which means not only avoiding penalties, but also maintaining a confidence in the systems, above all in defence, that have worked so effectively for most of this campaign. And, as ever against the Italians, patience will be a cardinal virtue.

Italy’s previous matches have shown that you can prevail against them over the course of the 80 minutes, but they have also demonstrated that you cannot expect to get on top of them from the opening exchanges. Scotland will be eager to show off their attacking prowess at some stage, but they know they need to earn the right to do so rather than throwing the ball around and hoping for the best.

Assistant coach Nathan Hines, for one, is confident that the squad are in the right shape to get back to their best. “What I've seen from the guys this week is a little bit more resolve and determination,” he said yesterday. “They've certainly asked more questions of themselves than maybe they once did.

'More importantly, they're giving themselves honest answers. That's the good thing about this team, they can question themselves, and give themselves a good starting point for the next game.

“The starting point this week is to fix what happened at the weekend. This week we've been asking: What did we do wrong? How do we get better?”

Hines is moving on with Cotter to Montpellier in France, and is convinced we will see no sudden outbreak of sentimentality from the head coach as three years’ work come to an end. “I think it will kick in later on, after the tournament,” he added.

“He’ll just focus on getting this job done. Once it's finished, it will be time to review what has happened and what he's done here. He's the kind of guy who stays focused on what needs to be done. What needs to be done is getting a win.”

Italy have yet to pick up a point this year, and, for all the attention-grabbing tactical innovations of new coach Conor O’Shea, they have not made any real improvement compared to their opponents in the Six Nations. Having said that, they won on their last visit to Murrayfield, and are more confident about taking on Scotland than they are any of the other teams in the competition.

For their part, the Scots not only have a history of underperforming against the Italians - Hines himself was part of the team that lost 37-17 at home in 2007 - they have also lost a bit of their shape on the last day of the competition in each of the past two years. Ireland were the beneficiaries on both of those occasions, but although there has been a more general feeling that things slacken off a bit on the final afternoon, Hines is sure his team have learned from what wrong in 2015 and 2016.

“I don't think it's to do with the mind wandering. Last year Ireland did a really good job on us. We had a six-day turnaround, they kept the ball for the first 10 minutes of play, we got it back - and gave it right back to them.

“That doesn't help. It took us a half to figure out how to play. The year before, the Ireland game, they needed a bonus point and we just didn't play very well, did we?

“It's a different team. We're physically and mentally in a better place.The guys are more attuned to doing what they need to do this weekend, not worrying about what happened.

“They're doing it because they want to win and they can win. They're not worried about points or who’s going to win another game - they're just focused on what they need to do.”

Italian captain Sergio Parisse, meanwhile, acknowledged that Scotland have enjoyed a far better campaign than his own side, and suggested that the problems Italy suffer have their roots further down than the national team. “Scotland are coming off a big loss last week, and so are we,” the back-row forward said. “But they’ve had a better Six Nations than us and have been playing some very good rugby, so it will be a difficult match.

“If the game only lasted 40 minutes we would have beaten Wales and England. The reason we do things pretty well for 40 minutes and not 80 is connected to the habits we have as individuals. Most of the squad play for Zebre or Treviso and they are struggling in the second half the same as us.

“We need to put these players in the conditions to perform at their best, and I think in this respect Scotland are an example for us. A few seasons ago the two Scottish sides were the ones our teams were looking to beat, but today Edinburgh and Glasgow are in the quarter-finals in Europe and Scotland are playing very well too.”