If Scotland and South Africa stick to their expected replacement strategies tomorrow, then Jim Hamilton may well find himself trotting off the Murrayfield pitch at just about the same time that Eben Etzebeth is trotting on.

And if that comes to pass then you have to hope there is a decent length of touchline between the two locks, for things could get ugly if they get up close and personal again. And Hamilton has a bit of previous as far as dishing out justice is concerned.

Hamilton plays it down, but there has been an undercurrent of festering indignation in Scottish rugby circles since that moment, in Nelspruit last June, when his gentle push on Etzebeth sent the South African reeling away as if he had been shot. Etzebeth's melodramatic swooning deserved nothing more than a Golden Raspberry award, but it won his side a critical advantage when Hamilton, on the advice of the South African television match official was sent to the sin bin. As a consequence, a match that Scotland had deservedly led 17-6 just a few minutes earlier became a 30-17 defeat instead.

Of course, if Hamilton's lineout-calling duties keep him on the pitch for longer that the 60 minutes that has been his customary shift over the past couple of years then he and Etzebeth could find themselves going toe-to-toe again. "Obviously, there will be a bit of side-chat around that if he plays," said the giant Scottish lock, displaying what most of his audience interpreted as a hitherto undiscovered gift for euphemism.

Yet Hamilton also spoke recently about his sense of guilt about letting his side down that day, a sentiment that may be a more powerful lever than any thirst for revenge. And Greig Laidlaw was certainly playing the significance of the incident down when he looked forward to the rematch - sorry, autumn friendly - at his Murrayfield briefing yesterday.

"Of course we were annoyed," said Laidlaw of the incident that, some weeks later, led the International Rugby Board to revise their regulations to add the stipulation that TMOs at major Tests had to be drawn from neutral countries. "But can we do anything about it now? No. All we can do is prepare as best we can. We are looking ahead."

It was the kind of remark you might expect from anyone in Laidlaw's position, but it pretty much reflects the 28-year-old Borderer's all-round approach to life. Laidlaw served his time as a joiner in Jedburgh before the professional game came calling, and he still has his tradesman's pragmatism as well as his craftsman's skills.

"We'll never get it back again," he said of the Nelspruit game. "So we'll just put all our energies into the present and going forward. If we keep looking back we will be caught cold. It is always about the next game, the next training session. That's the philosophy the squad is going with. That's been driven from the top down and from the down back up."

Laidlaw was also leading Scotland that day, having taken over from Kelly Brown after the flanker injured an ankle against Samoa two weeks earlier. As Edinburgh captain, it is a mantle he wears easily, although his outlook is still more focused on the practicalities of the job than the honour and status it confers. In any case, he thinks of it as a temporary arrangement. "Kelly is the captain of the squad," he stressed.

"Kelly is rested this week so I take over the role. In the position I'm in at scrum-half means I'm heavily involved with calling and organisation anyway."

The 42-17 victory over Japan that opened Scotland's autumn account last weekend was a mixed performance, but one in which they also finished far more strongly than they had begun. It was a satisfying trajectory for coach Scott Johnson, and a pattern that was probably not wholly unexpected after a five-month absence from the Test arena. Yet it it one thing to be outpacing Japan over the final quarter of a match, and quite another to even be in contention against South Africa at the same stage.

Still, Laidlaw took comfort from the composure his fellow players showed after Japan had twice closed to within one point during the middle third of last Saturday's game. And with good reason, given the too-fresh memories of last year's calamitous loss to Tonga in Aberdeen. "In the Japan game it got a bit close," he said, "but I always felt we would pull away. Maybe that feeling wasn't there when we played Tonga."

Of course, the memory can be too selective at times, so it should also be acknowledged that Scotland's lead against South Africa in Nelspruit last June had already been eroded even before Hamilton's departure. And it was not just the numbers on the scoreboard that were significant, for the patterns on the pitch were far different from those we had seen while the Scots built up the 17-6 lead that was their high-water mark in the game. South Africa had tried to play the wider style that would evolve over the coming months in their Rugby Championship games, but when they stared down the barrel of Scotland's gun they reverted to type.

Which is to say that they reined in their game and started to batter Scotland up front. They scrummaged ferociously, set punishing driving mauls and took the spoils as they hovered up scores that their opponents, tiring rapidly, could do little to prevent.

Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer clearly believes in the power game as the weapon of choice against Scotland. He might want to add the new-fangled bells and whistle needed to get the better of the All Blacks on a regular basis, but his selection for tomorrow, especially his choice of the aged but venerable Bakkies Botha in the second row, suggests that an old-fangled arm wrestle is the kind of display he will be happy to see.

Laidlaw expects nothing less. "You know what you're getting with South Africa," said the scrum-half. "They are very confrontational, they are big side, but we have analysed them well and we know the test that is coming. They have not lost many games this year and that's for a reason. We know the task in hand, and now we must get our part right."