AT 31 years of age, Duncan Taylor’s best years as a rugby player are now behind him, and the fact that a large chunk of what should have been his heyday was spent recovering from a succession of injuries must be a source of serious frustration, but the utility-back is determined to keep looking forward.

The Saracens man made his Scotland debut against Samoa in 2013 and would surely have been well past the 50-cap mark by now had he not been haunted by such sickening luck – but is currently sitting on 26 caps instead.

A shoulder injury which ruled him out of the 2015 World Cup was the start of his troubles, he then suffered a torn hamstring playing against Japan during the summer of 2016, followed by two ankle surgeries, and an issue with concussion which had him out for eight months from January 2018 and questioning for a while whether he would play again.

He did make it back, buts almost straight after his return he ruptured ligaments in his knee in September 2018 which wiped out practically all of that season, and although he recovered in time to be named in Scotland’s 2019 World Cup squad, he was clearly lacking match sharpness and ended up being a peripheral figure.

He even missed the start of the Autumn’s Nations Cup due to another shoulder injury picked up playing in Saracens’ Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Racing 92 but made a speedy recovery on this occasion to take a slot on the bench against France a week past Sunday.

Now, with Scotland headed to Dublin to take on Ireland this Saturday, Taylor is hoping for a starting spot in midfield as head coach Gregor Townsend looks to add some bite to the attack without compromising the defensive solidity which has become the team’s hallmark.

“I think as you get a bit older you start to really embrace things a little bit more than maybe you do when you’re younger,” said Taylor. “You have more gratitude for the opportunities you get and the chances to be around your team-mates and to play for your club and your country.

“I’ve really developed that love for the game over the last few years without playing as much as I would have liked to. I’ve developed that love because you realise how much you miss it when you are not involved. When you’re not playing it definitely pulls at your heartstrings and makes you realise how important this game is to you.

“I’m 31 years old now and time won’t last forever for me and my rugby career, so I think I’m just embracing every opportunity I get, whether it’s training or playing. I try to enjoy it as much as I can.

“Any time you get the chance to play you want to perform and you want to keep coming back for more, that is the aim of any player given the jersey so that doesn’t change from week to week or player to player.”

International teams tend live in World Cup cycles these days, and by the time France 2023 comes around Taylor will be 34, which is getting on a bit for an international three-quarter – but he hasn’t ruled out being fit, available and worth his place in the squad for that tournament.

“I don’t look that far in advance to be honest with you, I’m more of a week-to-week guy,” he said. “I still feel I’ve got plenty more in me to give and I will give everything I’ve got over however long I’ve got left playing rugby. But I’ll just attack that on a weekly basis rather than looking too far into the future.”

Which brings him round nicely to what he is expecting from this week’s challenge – and he believes that Ireland’s defeat to England earlier in the Autumn provided some valuable clues as to what Scotland will need to do.

“During the last few years, we’ve struggled against Ireland, but England seem to have come up trumps against them and I think that comes down to their physicality and their ability around the breakdown,” he said. “I think that’s going to play a huge part in our defensive display at the weekend – winning that gain-line, winning that physical battle.”

And he is in no doubt that Scotland are in a better position than ever before to break their 10-year losing streak in the Emerald Isle.

“We’ve probably got more players to pick from now than we’ve had in a long time,” he explained. “Whenever we haven’t had too much depth in the past, it has been a challenge for us. There’s no guarantee of anyone getting a jersey now, which is great for the squad and the performance side of things.”