IT'S not often that a player picks up a Man of the Match award on his first start for his country.

And it's not exactly common for a player to get the same award while playing for the losing team either. But on the 4th of February, 2012, Dave Denton did both.

The unruly shock of blond hair he sported at the time was always going to help him get noticed. But Denton was far more than a show pony as he hammered away at the England defence at Murrayfield that day. A Lions tour was looming the following year, and Denton had just moved himself to the front of the No.8 contenders' queue.

He didn't make it to Australia, mostly because he fell victim to one of the most serious cases of second-season syndrome ever seen. The golden boy lost his lustre, and his only appearances in the 2013 Six Nations were off the bench. He recovered enough to become - when fit at least - pretty much a shoo-in for Scotland, but it is still fair to say he has never quite lived up to the promise of that astonishing run-on debut.

Of course, the injuries haven't helped. If we were to try to list them here we would require the rest of the sports pages and a good portion of the motoring section as well. Suffice to say, he's had a few.

Yet while Denton has bumped, bashed and bruised his way to a collection of 23 caps, the one thing that has not appeared on his Test record is a try. Not a point of any sort, in fact, a big fat zero that looks bigger and fatter as scoring tries is part and parcel of a No.8's job. And it looks chronically obese on a Scotland team sheet that shows that every other player in the starting line-up has got the scoreboard clicking at some time or other.

Still, if one quality defines Denton better than any other it is his upbeat optimism. He talks of rugby with the sort of lip-smacking relish a gourmand might summon for a dozen of the finest oysters. He has had a lumpy international career, Scotland have had a lumpier Six Nations season, but still he cannot wait to unleash himself at Twickenham.

"It is 32 years since we won there and we have our backs against the wall," said Denton. "It is a position we have been in more times than we would have wanted.

"But with the promise this team has shown, we want to put that right. This is a great opportunity for us to do something that has not been done in 32 years: to go down there and bring the Calcutta Cup back up to Scotland."

Denton might have made his return to the side two weekends ago, but he admits that he was still not quite ready after missing a month of action due to a calf tear. As he watched Scotland's horror-show finish in their loss to Italy at Murrayfield, he may well have been relieved to sit it out anyway, but coach Vern Cotter clearly wants more of the muscle and dynamism that Denton can bring to the party.

As England's No.8 is the human wrecking ball that is Billy Vunipola, you can understand Cotter's thinking. But Denton seems reasonably undaunted by the prospect of going up against the 20st behemoth. Though not so much so that he is likely to take the fellow lightly.

"Vunipola is a huge ball carrier for them," said Denton. "He is a very hard worker and a lot of people don't give him credit for that. He is on the ball a lot and they use him a lot. He's a big guy and the way we play we are going to have to chop him low.

"But we can't use that as an excuse to tackle passively. We have to be aggressive, hit him low and get him behind the gain line. If we let their forwards get momentum, then they have a back line that can really run. But if we hit them behind the gain line, we are hoping they will run out of ideas."

Denton has said in the past that success in rugby came easily to him. In the same season that he made his debut for Scotland, Edinburgh enjoyed a heady rush of European success on their madcap - and, in retrospect, rather flattering - run to the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup. He really was living the dream.

He has had a few wake-up calls since, but he feels that he is much the better for them. "I have grown as a rugby player and as a person, and that is important," he said. "To build a good team you need a mature set of boys."

Maybe even a mature set of men, but let's leave that little slip to one side. Fact is, Denton on his day is one heck of a good player, and Scotland certainly need one of those days tomorrow. Like all the best No.8s, there is something of the bellwether about him. When Denton is going well, he has a habit of dragging his team along too.

"If we are going to take this team where we want to go and be competitors at the World Cup, then we can't have performances like we had [against Italy]" he said. "I am hoping I can bring a bit of energy and some enthusiasm to the team. The most important thing is that I get my game right, know my role and bring some physicality to the match."