Sports psychologists? Pah… Jon Welsh was having none of it after the penalty he conceded cost Scotland a place in a World Cup semi-final.

A sparky to trade, who liked a bit of boxing as a youngster, before being identified as a late developer by Glasgow Warriors coaches Sean Lineen and Shade Munro, he reverted to more traditional Scottish methods of dealing with his alleged culpability by exchanging abuse with his mates and getting back to his work.

Turning to what would be considered his natural support groups seeking sympathy and succour after the black comedy of errors that was played out in those fateful moments was not really an option it seems.

“My pals do,” he said with a wry laugh, when asked if anyone had dared suggest he was to blame for Scotland’s exit.

“I will go on to tell them it was not my fault.”

The blame game is not for Welsh, though, to the extent that he continues to vigorously defend referee Steve Walsh, the man most Scots sought to criticise after a badly called and executed lineout had resulted in the ball bouncing towards Welsh, who was adjudged to have been offside as he gathered it.

“Yeah, well, like, has anybody tried to referee a game before,” responded the prop. “There are a thousand things going on. Maybe other refs would have gone to the TMO (television replay official). He made the call and he stuck with it.”

Welsh did noted that following a similar incident on last summer’s British & Irish Lions of Walsh’s native New Zealand a similar decision had been referred to the TMO and was adjudicated properly and admitted that he and his team-mates had implored his near-namesake to take such action at the time. However, he directed critics towards the attitudes that underpin a sport that is dangerous to play and difficult to referee in equal measure.

“He made the call. In the game of rugby you respect the refs call,” said Welsh.

He has not played for Scotland since, but he has played plenty more rugby in England, having agreed to join Newcastle Falcons immediately after the tournament and it is also to his credit that there was no question of wallowing in his misfortune.

“I’ve hardly been asked about that until recent months,” he pointed out. “The worst thing you can do as a professional, in rugby or any sport, is to dwell on mistakes. We train hard on the rugby pitch to not make mistakes but they are going to happen. It’s pro sport. It’s something I don’t look back on at all. Obviously, it’s unfortunate, nobody wanted it to happen, but it did and it was on to the next thing for me.

“That was on the Sunday. Newcastle phoned me, (head coach) John Wells and said what do you want to do? You can take this week off, then come back in. I said I was happy, my family was there. So I got a flight straight to Newcastle and I was straight back into training on the Tuesday.

“It was light stuff and we got to the Thursday and the tighthead was injured and could not play. They phoned me to say they were happy for me to start against Northampton if I was happy. I said definitely. It was at the least a different focus and that Sunday I played Northampton. That was my first eye opener for the Premiership. I remember I didn’t know anybody’s names as I was just in the side. I was running about saying, ‘pass the ball.’”

While the stereotypical view of Scottish front-row forwards is that they head south to toughen up and develop their set-piece play, Welsh was already recognised as a formidable scrummager who had some work to do on his mobility.

In acknowledging that, he was happy to poke a bit of fun at his own expense after recounting the day he made a surprise Test debut when long-established Scotland prop Allan ‘Chunk’ Jacobsen, another whose ruggedness made up for a rather detached approach to conditioning, suffered an injury during the warm-up.

“Chunk went down as late as you could and we were into it. The door was being locked so we could try and get him fit.... strapped sorry… you could never get him fit,” laughed Welsh.

To the suggestion that it was a bit rich of him to say so, he readily agreed, laughing as he reports that: “Al Kellock (Welsh’s former Glasgow and Scotland captain) says in his speeches that I had to squeeze into Chunk’s jersey.”

There is, then, an open, honesty about Welsh that can serve Scotland well over the next few weeks, turning what was perceived as a negative into a potential positive as a player who looked to have been discarded, but is widely considered to have improved in the interim, is given a chance of redemption.

Not that he sees it that way, simply taking the view that he is getting a reward for keeping his head down and getting on with things, saying matter-of-factly: “I’d always been in training squads or at least called back into them. I don’t think the desire ever goes away to play for Scotland. I just kept training away and I’ve been lucky enough to be given another shot if you like.”