A DECENT outing in Dublin ended in defeat. A less impressive performance in Turin produced a win. It is time that Scotland, having ended a run of six losses last week, both played well and won well.

It will not be easy against the Italians at Murrayfield this afternoon. It rarely is. But, with Vern Cotter having selected a line-up that is surely far closer to his first-choice starting 15, we can hope for more enterprise and more drama than was on offer in last week’s 16-12 victory in Italy.

Scotland’s superior fitness saved the day then, with Henry Pyrgos scoring the only try of the game not long before the end. But, after a first half about as rich in colour and excitement as an overcast afternoon in the Gobi Desert, the way Cotter’s team played at the start of the second 40 was just as useful a guide to what they need to do to win again today.

They increased the tempo and stretched the play then, and for a time the Italians were on the rack. And when play did become confined to close quarters, the home team’s domination up front was noticeably diminished once the replacement front row of Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford and WP Nel was on the park.

The three Edinburgh men all start today, as does what looks like the best second-row combination at Cotter’s disposal, Grant Gilchrist and Jonny Gray. The back row remains more experimental, with Ryan Wilson and John Barclay either side of David Denton, but the pack as a whole should be equipped to win parity.

Behind the scrum, much will depend on Finn Russell. The Glasgow stand-off is the team’s single most important player, but with clubmates Mark Bennett and Stuart Hogg outside him he has strike runners who can shoulder some of the responsibility for breaking through the Italian defence.

In other words, while the Ireland game showed Scotland had made a modest improvement and the Turin match demonstrated a welcome ability to win in adverse circumstances, everything is in place today for a more complete performance. It is the last warm-up game before the final squad of 31 is selected for the Rugby World Cup, but the players will not be distracted by that. They know they need to perform as a collective.

"Another victory would be nice,” Nathan Hines, the assistant coach, said yesterday when asked what he wanted from the game. “It would be good if we could perform like we did in Ireland and win like we did in Italy - put the two together. I'd like no injuries as well and everyone playing well so we can have a long, drawn-out meeting about selection.

“If all the individuals do their jobs well then the team will function. So we'll be looking at that. But obviously if the team wins we're not going to pick an individual who doesn't play well within the team. Everyone needs to play well.”

As a former lock forward himself, Hines has been particularly impressed by Gilchrist and Gray, who at 25 and 21 respectively have the makings of a long-term partnership. “I’m excited about the second row. It’s one of the strengths for us at the moment - we’ve got depth there. Guys are coming through young, and if they keep themselves fit they could be there for a long time.”

A record crowd for a summer Test of around 40,000 is expected, and the game is being promoted as a beach party. So this game will be a departure from the dour struggle that so many matches between these two countries become, won’t it? Hines would like to think so, but, as a pragmatic, down-to-earth sort, he believes that winning comes first.

“We’ve got a good crowd coming and it would be good for them to see a bit of open rugby. But I’d rather win ugly than throw the ball around. Obviously I’d like to see an expansive game, but if it has to get tight then I’d rather take the win.

“If you get too loose and start throwing the ball around then you open yourself to a bit more risky play. And then you just play into their hands: they get the ball and run with it up the middle.

“We’re wary of their set piece, and have to make sure we don’t get too loose. We’ve got a good pack as well. We just have to make sure we play the way we can.”

Scotland probably will play the way they can, and although that is no guarantee of a victory against opponents who should themselves be significantly stronger than they were in their first outing of the summer last week, they should do enough to shade it. Having learned to win again, the next step is to rediscover the art of winning in style.