I'll happily defer to anyone who knows otherwise, but I think I'm on pretty safe ground when I say Ian McLauchlan yesterday became the first Scottish Rugby Union president to stand before the governing body's annual general meeting and announce he was off on maternity leave.

This historic proclamation came during the early part of the Murrayfield gathering, ensuring the majority of delegates from clubs across Scotland were still awake to hear it. Reflecting on his time in office, McLauchlan, in his characteristic drawl of lugubrious menace, thanked everyone who had supported him in the role he has occupied for the last two years, and made it clear that he would retain a connection with the game.

"It's been a great period of my life," said the man who, in the amateur era, was branded a pariah by SRU officials for accepting the proceeds of his autobiography. "And I still hope to visit clubs I missed out on visiting during my pregnancy."

As many in the audience were old enough to cherish memories of watching Mighty Mouse knock 10 bells out of any hapless All Black who got in his way during the triumphant 1971 Lions tour to New Zealand, this was a startling development. However, the great man soon put them at their ease: "Eh, I meant during my presidency."

It was a moment of levity at an assembly that wasn't exactly heaving with belly laughs and side-splitting one-liners. That said, there were probably a few present who thought the biggest joke of the day had already been cracked when the Union released a four-year strategy plan which stated the Scotland team would win the 2015 World Cup and a Six Nations Grand Slam by 2016.

On the back of a first pool-stage exit from the World Cup and a Six Nations whitewash, the comic potential was obvious. And yet, when he sat down to talk about the long-awaited strategy plan – it has been more than a year in gestation – SRU chief executive Mark Dodson made no apologies for setting the bar so high. "It's realistic because we have a fantastic group of athletes, special athletes," he said. "The people who play for the Scottish team have been special since they were eight or nine years old, and have been champions as they've come through their schools, but when they get into the national team all of a sudden they undershoot, and we expect them to underachieve.

"These people have all of the talent in the world, and the only thing they have to fear is failure itself. I don't think we've set the bar high enough in the past, we haven't expected enough of them, but along with investment and belief comes an obligation to achieve."

Just as it did back in 2007 when former chief executive Gordon McKie, whose messy ousting just over a year ago paved the way for Dodson's arrival, mapped out an equally shining path into the brave new world Scottish rugby would occupy in five years' time.

"How did we do?" was the rhetorical question posed in the new plan issued yesterday. Pretty well, it answered itself, highlighting the fact that the number of people playing the game had grown by 50% within two years. On other matters, however, it was curiously silent.

Or maybe not so curiously, as the targets set back then had been missed by a country mile. The 2007 document demanded that the international side should raise its Six Nations win rate from 25% to 40% and win at least one championship. In reality, the success rate dropped to 16% and the team won nothing shinier than a wooden spoon.

Still, it would be hard to argue that the mood of yesterday's meeting was anything other than positive, the atmosphere no doubt lifted by Scotland's three wins from three from last month's tour to Australia and the South Pacific. And, after years of neglect, it was certainly uplifting to hear Union officials stress the importance Glasgow and Edinburgh have as autonomous entities in their own right rather than being the poodles of the international team.

More competitive performances by the two professional clubs in the Heineken Cup and RaboDirect PRO12 league last season helped the Union to increase turnover by £3.1 million to just over £38m. However, Dodson also reported there had been lower revenue from ticket sales and broadcasting due to the different international match schedule of a World Cup season.

McLauchlan's contribution aside, however, this year's AGM could well rank as the Union's dullest in living memory. Most years there is at least a whiff of discontent in the massed ranks of club representatives who make their annual pilgrimage to Murrayfield, but without a single contentious motion on the agenda this year's meeting was a bit of a snore-fest.

The only dissenting voice was offered by Mike O'Reilly, the Orkney representative whose magnificently passionate cri-de-coeur about the need for a museum at the national stadium brought the house down last year. O'Reilly made it clear he did not want to cause trouble again, but SRU officials would do well to take note of his concerns over the lack of progress on the issue.

As expected, Alan Lawson was formally installed as the new president. After which, a handful of procedural adjustments were nodded through almost unopposed, and delegates scoffed their bacon butties and headed back home.