As today marks the first anniversary of Andy Robinson's resignation as Scotland coach, a chance encounter with the Englishman at Murrayfield on Saturday was a pertinent reminder of how fickle this coaching lark can be.

Robinson stood down in the ignominious wake of a first-ever defeat by Tonga, a whitewash in the autumn series added to a zero return from the Six Nations. Frankly, he had to go. And yet, Robinson's results in his last calendar year in charge of Scotland were not hugely different to those achieved by his successor, Scott Johnson, in his first. Robinson's 2012 record read: played 11, won three, lost eight. Johnson's 2013 equivalent is: played 12, won four, lost eight.

Robinson, though, had made a very thick rod for his own back. From the outset, he had said that Test rugby was all about winning, that it wasn't a development exercise. Johnson has taken quite the opposite tack, saying that he was prepared to lose every game if it meant building a stronger, deeper squad. It is a message he has hammered home at every opportunity, seemingly backing up his words with solid deeds by bringing a raft of new faces into the Test arena.

But is this style over substance? For in this area, too, the numbers racked up by the two men are remarkably similar. Johnson has trumpeted a strategy that has seen him give international debuts to 14 players this year, but that is only one more than the 13 who were given first caps under Robinson in 2012. The only significant difference is that Robinson went about his business rather more quietly.

Yet even Johnson accepts that there comes a time when the rehearsals have to end. In essence, his past six games - three on the summer tour to South Africa and three over the past month - have been meaningless. Come February, however, he will be taking his side into the cauldron of the Six Nations, starting against Ireland in Dublin. At that point, the time for messing about is over.

Johnson admitted as such on Saturday evening. Over recent weeks, form has been just one of a number of factors in his selection strategy; by the time of the Six Nations it will be the only factor. It is an insult to the competition and the supporters to take anything else into the equation. As Robinson used to say, winning is everything.

"I have to find out if some people can go the distance to the World Cup, or if we rule them out now," said Johnson. "There will be elements where we see where we are going in the Six Nations, but the first one will be picked on form."

And, hopefully, from a squad whose injury problems are diminishing. Stuart Hogg returned to action for Glasgow against the Dragons on Friday and Matt Scott should be back for Edinburgh towards the end of next month. Scotland's backline resources are thin enough at the best of times, but the loss of those two, plus Tim Visser and Alex Dunbar, was all the more keenly felt as Scotland lacked inspiration in attack against Australia.

Given that they had something close to parity in most other areas, this was a critical difference. All the more starkly seen when Quade Cooper and Israel Folau worked their magic for the Wallabies. Last week, Australia coach Ewen McKenzie said that he was looking to have five world class players in time for the World Cup, but declined to say how many he has now. McKenzie can sleep soundly in the knowledge that he has two of that quintet already.

Folau's first-half try was sublime. It was also galling, as it came from Scotland turning over possession at a lineout, their fatal shortcoming against South Africa six days earlier. After a couple of rucks, Cooper delivered a perfectly-timed pass into the arms of Folau as he burst forward on a left-right diagonal. The line caught Ryan Grant cold, the Scottish prop falling off the tackle badly and giving Folau an easy run to the line.

There was much to be made of the contrast between that move and the one Scotland tried, towards the end of the first half, when Johnnie Beattie broke away with the ball, moving it on to Sean Maitland, before Sean Lamont took the play on before being brought down a yard short. Maitland took heavy criticism for the quality of that final pass, but Folau deserves as much praise for his cover tackle on Lamont as he does for what he did at the other end of the pitch a few minutes earlier.

Cooper was the provider for Australia's second try as well, just three minutes after the interval, and it was a body blow to Scotland, within one point of the Wallabies, at 12-13, when Greig Laidlaw had landed his fourth penalty of the game four minutes before the break.

But the Scots were pulled apart as Australia worked a lovely loop move down the right side, Folau and Stephen Moore combining before Cooper slipped the scoring pass to Chris Feauai-Sautia, who crashed past Maitland to claim his try.

All that was left was an exchange of penalties between Christian Leali'ifano and Laidlaw. It was a scrappy conclusion as Leali'ifano missed three more kicks and Scotland, again toiling in the lineouts, were unable to build momentum. In the final minutes of their Test year, they came up short - frustrating for the Murrayfield crowd, but not a bad motif for 2013 as a whole.