On a recent trip to the USA I was reminded of the great truism of American sport which roughly translates as everything is about winning, or as one friend of mine put it ‘Who came second? Who cares?’

It’s harsh but true that since professionalism came into rugby union in 1995, winning has become all important and mere participation isn’t enough to satisfy the demands of owners, coaches and fans. I am glad to say there is still an air in the amateur club game of playing for the sake of the game, but at the elite professional level there’s very little of that Corinthian spirit left.

I am also afraid to say that attitude goes as much for women’s rugby as for the male division, so that’s why I have to say that while we should be delighted at the way our Scottish women beat Italy at the weekend, nevertheless it was a sole victory so far in the Six Nations, which is why the match against Ireland this weekend is vital.

Scotland have broken their losing streak, and to my eyes they did so in some style against Italy - I particularly enjoyed their late scrummaging – and any five try performance is worthy of note, and those who say they did it against a 14-woman team should note that Sara Seye was not sent off until the 64th minute. She deserved the red card for that head contact on Jade Konkel-Roberts , by the way.

But now Ireland will provide a different challenge and the reward for winning is there for the taking. Beat Ireland with a bonus point and Scotland will be guaranteed to finish fourth in the table and not many people predicted that at the start of a tournament which is working out exactly as I thought it would – England and France out in front and the rest playing catch-up.

By the time the match against Ireland kicks off at 7.30 we will already know which nation has won the tournament, as England play France in a winner-takes-all ‘final’ at 1pm, and we will also know what Scotland has to do to finish fourth as Italy play Wales at 3.30pm. It will be a real Super Saturday and I tip England to be champions and Scotland to beat Ireland.

There will then be the usual examination of how Scotland did in the tournament, and I suspect the SRU will be saying good, but must do better, and whoever does the report must take into account the dreadful events of the last year or so which I won’t go into again.

The SRU wants more from our women at all levels, in which case, as I have said before, there must be proper resources to enable Scotland’s women to compete with the likes of England, France and New Zealand. We must see a move to a situation where everyone in the national squad must be a full-time professional. As for the grassroots we must see encouragement of woman and girls to play rugby and end the misogyny which still occurs too often in this so-called enlightened age.

You will recall that earlier this month the SRU admitted in a report that sexism and individual discrimination against women was still present in the sport in Scotland.

Yes, the review found no breach of equality laws, but it admitted a failure to meet expected standards, including a conclusion of "unconscious and situational bias" and that the women's game "was not at the forefront of consideration".

All of a Scottish rugby must fix this, as it will be a win-win for everybody.

Speaking of winning, Glasgow Warriors have made a healthy habit of doing so at Scotstoun, finishing the United Rugby Championship season unbeaten at home. In all they have achieved 17 home wins in succession and that’s an astonishing record, quite frankly. Now they have to repeat the dose away from home in the Challenge Cup semi-final against Scarlets.

Normally I would say that when a team has the Big Mo, the momentum that the Warriors have at this end of the season, they would be hot favourites to extend that run and reach the final. But against Connacht at the weekend Glasgow just managed to get over the winning line, and Scarlets are a different proposition in Llanelli where they have beaten the likes of Sharks, Brice and Claremont Auvergne in recent weeks.

As against Connacht, Franco Smith and his men have found ways to win even when not at their very best, and I expect they will have to do that against a team replete with internationalists such as Leigh Halfpenny, Gareth Davies and Wales captain Ken Owens. Oh, and they have a couple of tough Tongan internationalists as well.

Overall I would say Glasgow have a better all-round squad, however, and I suspect Franco Smith is even now planning the use of his full allocation of 23 men for Saturday.