Now for the patriot games.

Like it or not, international sport, and perhaps international rugby especially, is built on foundations of national passion and fervour. And while that might sit ill-at-ease with those who would normally shudder at such sentiments, there are plenty of us who can happily accommodate the contradiction.

Three years ago, Stuart Lancaster stopped the rot for England by reminding his players who they were, what they were about and where they came from. Famously, he asked their families, friends and former teachers and coaches to write letters that articulated the pride they felt when they saw those playing for their country. Lancaster, who never played full international rugby, wanted to make it clear that a Test match was never just another game.

That point is all too easily lost in an age when countries play as many as a dozen games a year and a player can rack up 50 caps in a handful of seasons. But it is refreshingly easy to find it again in the Six Nations, where even the venues, those spine-tingling rugby cathedrals, nourish a sense of continuity, sporting magnificence and splendour.

The talk this year has been of how three of the coaches have come from the other side of the world, with Vern Cotter of Scotland, Warren Gatland of Wales and Ireland's Joe Schmidt all having their own roots in New Zealand. Do such pragmatic appointments dilute the magic of the tournament? Do they cloud the concept of nation against nation? Not one bit.

If the images created by last autumn's Test series are to be trusted, Cotter has tapped into his players' emotions, their inner Scottishness if you like, rather better than his two immediate predecessors. It is said that the former Clermont Auvergne coach took time to figure out the essential characteristics of rugby in these parts, study its DNA, and then told his players to give it expression.

The outcomes should be treated with caution, but there was a powerful impression that the Scots were playing a game more in keeping with their rugby instincts.

Of course, it was not exactly difficult for a coach whose squad was dominated by Glasgow players to decide that a bit of Glasgow style might make sense. And as that style - quick recycling, rampaging forwards, a high-tempo rhythm - is as close as you will find to the archetypal Scottish style then the pieces of the puzzle came together quite nicely. But it is interesting to note that it is Scotland's way, not Cotter's. At Clermont, he was perfectly happy to go down the French route, or even autoroute, and send out a juggernaut pack.

It is reassuring to know that the Scotland coach is not hidebound by a single philosophy of how to play this game. Asked last week if he picked the team to suit the tactics or the tactics to suit the team, Cotter smiled and said: "It's a bit of both." Assuredly, however, the latter part is the bigger bit at the moment.

"It would be fair to say that the players who came through the autumn Tests have helped themselves to get into strong positions in the squad," Cotter continued. "We will sit down and have a [selection] discussion, but we have a fair idea of who may be starting. But we have open minds as well about how things are developing.

"It's about people. It's about character and this group has got that. It's just about encouraging them to have fun and enjoy themselves. They have worked extremely hard and things will develop within the group. Our role is to put them in situations where they find out more about themselves and the game they are playing."

All of which might sound as if Cotter is straying into coaching mumbo-jumbo, but the testimony of his players, and of everyone who has worked with him, is that he knows what he wants and is pretty adept at getting directions over. Which is not to say that Scotland is about to enter one of its greatest eras, but simply to say that the players at least have a pretty good idea of what they are meant to be doing.

And why. When team captain Greig Laidlaw was asked if the squad had emotional buttons to press, he said: "We have some stuff, but we like to keep it within the group. Certainly, we know what it means to play for this country and pull on this jersey. That's something we got across in the autumn when we maybe stripped it back a bit to its roots.

"Vern is very keen to connect with the country and the land. I think there is a feeling in Scotland that the people are starting to connect with the team as well."

Healthy ticket sales certainly back that up, with the Ireland match, Scotland's last outing, already a sell-out (boosted, it is fair to assume, by Irish fans who expect to see their team pick up the trophy that day), while the Wales game, which takes place on a Sunday, is heading that way.

The autumn games against Argentina and New Zealand were a powerful reminder that you need a decent pitch to play rugby worth watching - something that couldn't be said of the matches that took place in the Edinburgh stadium in the last Six Nations.

By tradition, Scotland's best seasons have tended to be when they have had France and England at home. This year, they travel to Paris and London, but the consolation, since Italy's entry into the Championship 15 years ago, is that they have home advantage in three matches. All things considered, two wins would probably constitute an acceptable return in Cotter's first Six Nations, with anything more a bonus.

Others will set their bars higher. The bookies say the title will be between Ireland and England, which suggests the clash between the two in Dublin on March 1 already looks like a decider. Ireland, unquestionably, have form on their side, with nine wins from 10 outings last year taking them to third place in the world rankings. They also look relatively healthy as far as their casualty list is concerned.

But England need it more. The one thing Lancaster wants more than anything else is to take momentum into the World Cup this year. Clive Woodward had that when they conquered the world in 2003, but there are too many issues still up in the air for Lancaster, too many positions where it is still not clear who his best players might be.

France will be tough, but if they cannot bring what is likely to be a mighty pack to bear then they might also be vulnerable to their first loss to Scotland in Paris for 16 years. Already it is clear that Saturday's match between the sides will be a massively emotional occasion as the city hosts its first major sporting event since the Charlie Hebdo atrocity a few weeks ago.

Wales? They could challenge. But the red jersey will have to lift them as their clubs - Ospreys an honourable exception - have been struggling. Italy, meanwhile, look to be heading for a wooden spoon, the 11th time they have taken it. They have the best anthem of all, but sometimes these things are not enough.