Thirty minutes before kick-off and Finn Russell is warming up on the Murrayfield pitch.

At least that is what he is meant to be doing. For as his Scotland team-mates go through their pre-match routines of kicks and sprints and stretches in the national stadium, the 22-year-old is standing there on his own. He is staring at Dan Carter.

As well he might. After all, it is not so long since Russell was watching the legendary All Blacks fly-half from the back of the stand at the Edinburgh ground. And here he is now, 15 November, 2014, sharing the same patch of grass with the man who has been touted as the greatest playmaker the game has seen. Talk about whirlwind progress.

But then last year was all a bit of a blur for Russell. Fourth-choice fly-half for Glasgow at the start of the 2013-14 season, he was first choice for Scotland by its end. In a sequence of overtaking manoeuvres worthy of Lewis Hamilton, Russell shot to the top of the order. The door to No 10 has been spinning on its hinges with Scotland for the past few years, but having taken up residence for all three November Tests there is a strong impression that Russell has now bolted it shut and moved the furniture in.

Granted, the fact that his rivals have been dropping like flies has rather helped his case just lately, with Ruaridh Jackson and Duncan Weir ruled out of the Six Nations by knee and arm injuries respectively. But even if they had been fit, it is clear that coach Vern Cotter likes the cut of Russell's jib, and probable that the former Stirling County, Falkirk and Ayr player would have been starting for Scotland anyway. Not since the holy succession of Borderers, John Rutherford, Craig Chalmers and Gregor Townsend (and then, briefly, Dan Parks) has one player been so far out on his own.

Not that you would think it from his self-effacing manner. Russell might be the first name on the team sheet, but he admits he is still among the last to pipe up at team meetings. "Off the pitch I'll not want to talk too much," he explains. "I'm at the back and won't really speak up."

And yet, in the 80 minutes of the week that actually matter, Russell has that precious, precocious ability to take ownership of a game, laying down the law to players with many more Test years and Test caps than he has. It will be a long time before his place in history's pecking order can be judged, but it is obvious that he already has the vital ingredients of character, self-confidence and authority.

But it is also worth remembering that the five Tests he has played were all one-offs - not exactly friendlies, but still games where nothing was really riding on the results. He has clocked up an 80% win rate, but he has not played a truly competitive international, has never stepped into the cauldron of the Six Nations or the World Cup. But as of now things start to warm up.

Yet to judge him on his performances in major games for Glasgow, Russell's thermal shield is pretty sound. With the Warriors on Guinness PRO12 and European assignments he has shone against big teams and vaunted opponents. Last week, he outplayed England and Bath fly-half George Ford at the Rec. Oh, and when he had stopped gawping at Carter last November, most observers thought he got the better of him as well.

It has been Russell's good fortune to be in the right place, at the right time, and with the right coaches looking out for him. Cotter likes the way he plays; Warriors coach Townsend has polished the rough diamond who first stuck his head round the door at Scotstoun a couple of years ago. Townsend's 82 caps and one successful Lions tour add up to a body of knowledge that any young and ambitious fly-half would be happy to have on tap.

"It's great having Gregor there," he says with obvious feeling. "He was a running 10, a world-class 10. I can't remember watching him too much, but I think he was one of these guys who had to learn how to play the tactical side of the game.

"The only way to do that is through experience. Having Gregor there means he can give me his advice on how he worked around it and got used to the more tactical side of the game. He might give me small points each week, or just one point every couple of weeks, but they all add up. Going from game to game it's good to get a chance to adapt, week on week, and get better and better."

All true, but a great No 10 is defined as much by his bearing and self-belief as his technical abilities. Before anyone backs you there you have to back yourself. And you mustn't, mustn't ever, let one bad touch wreck your entire game.

Just as well that Russell ticks that box too. Last Sunday, his very first contribution was to send the opening kick-off straight into touch, giving Bath an attacking scrum on half way. Yet within moments, he was tidying things up in defence and settling into his groove. There have been international players of the recent past who would require prolonged counselling after a moment like that.

"I'm pretty chilled out," he shrugs. "I don't let things bother me too much. I could miss a few kicks then hit one. I find it quite easy to put things behind me. It's not just having confidence; you've got to be able to shelve everything, get rid of it, and just focus on the next job. I'm quite relaxed about everything like that.

"During the game I'm quite easy at letting it go, but after the game I'm quite hard on myself. Missing a kick to touch or putting a kick out on the full - I'm pretty tough on myself. Like losing to Bath, I would think 'What would have happened if I hadn't put that kick dead?' or 'If I'd done this or that what could have happened?' I guess that's just how I am and how I've always been."

Frankly, it will matter little to Scotland fans if Russell dissolves in tears in the dressing room so long as he does the business on the pitch. This time last year, he was knocking around Scotland in the colours of Ayr; next weekend he will be in the Stade de France in front of a crowd of 80,000. He'll cope. "These are the experiences you never forget," he smiles.