Frank Hadden, the former Scotland coach, believes the squad contesting this World Cup is the country’s strongest ever in terms of power and skill-sets but the national team’s most successful coach of this century knows there is still a huge amount of work to be done in both areas at development level.

Six years after being eased out of the job the Dundonian remains the last Scottish head coach to have beaten England, having done so twice, the last to beat France and the only one to have steered the team through a Six Nations Championship winning more matches than they lost.

His frustration at the failure of the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) to address problems in terms of youth rugby development led to him sitting down with me last year for an in-depth discussion which led to a three-part series in which he forensically outlined the failings and what needed to be done.

Mark Dodson, the SRU chief executive who had, two years earlier, claimed it was realistic to identify winning the 2015 World Cup as a genuine strategic target, contacted Hadden as a direct result of those articles acknowledging that the former coach must be allowed to implement his ideas.

The result has been a long overdue overhaul of the youth set-up and Hadden, who took over the national team from the man who led them through a first ‘whitewash’ season in 20 years and has watched two more coats of ‘whitewash’ applied under the two full-time coaches appointed since he departed, believes the groundwork is only now being done to give Scotland a better chance.

More youngsters playing more meaningful matches is the outcome of a national youth league set-up he was calling for as long ago as when he was Scotland coach, so while he is relatively optimistic about the current squad’s prospects his biggest hopes are for the longer term.

"The transition from amateur to pro has not been kind to Scottish rugby,” he said.

“Countries with much greater numbers and finances started to harness these resources in a way that made life difficult for us. For me the professional era has been all about trying to narrow the gap.”

He remembers taking over a team that was in crisis in 2005, having won just three of its previous 17 matches and doing the remedial work along with fellow Scots George Graham as forwards coach and Alan Tait as defence coach, that made them immediately more competitive, but deeper issues remained which he sought to resolve ahead of the 2007 World Cup.

“We were clearly short of size and power,” he noted.

“You can't do everything at once. We made a big difference quickly and won six of our 10 matches that season.

“Going into the 2007 RWC we spent much of the preparation phase trying to close the gap that had developed in strength and power.”

He pointed out that to do so they took advantage of the unique window created in World Cup years for Northern Hemisphere squads to get together for protracted periods, but wishes that time could have been spent on strategy and tactics.

“Wouldn't it be great if as national coach, you could spend your time honing and fine tuning rather than doing developmental work?” is his rhetorical question.

“Despite the erratic progress of the game in our country we have produced a squad for this year's tournament that has more depth than ever before.

“We are going to the event with more players with a broader skill set than ever before. The only thing they lack is experience as they have developed their skills in an environment that lacks the intensity of our rivals and this makes us more vulnerable to the schoolboy error.”

That is down to what his fellow former Scotland coach Richie Dixon refers to as lack of ‘competitive maturity’ and Hadden knew the claims being made about what was being done previously were based on flawed systems.

“It’s time to stop trying to create something out of nothing by concentrating on one-off tasters or peripatetic coaching assistance for a few weeks before moving on,” he said, noting that ahead of this season 220 clubs had junior teams but only 21 had teams at every age group and that of the 100-plus schools putting out teams fewer than 50 had one at every age group.

“You grow the game by investing in clubs and schools who are already making an effort and encourage them to make a bigger effort.

“Less than 25% of clubs and schools are providing a genuine developmental programme for their young players. I believe this new strategy has the capacity to increase the total dramatically.

“The first part of this process is to try to grow the number and size of the rugby cultures we have around the country. The second part is to provide a competitive vehicle to help increase playing numbers, lessen dropout and drive up standards.

“The Borderers have known this for a lot longer than the rest of us with their Border League and Semi Junior league that that’s how you do it. I am delighted that the Borders have liked enough of what they’ve heard to participate in a Town v Town contest at every level.

“Standards will rise by exposing our young players to more games of a higher intensity where their time and space are restricted. If the environment is more competitive everyone works harder, both players and coaches.

“In future our age group teams should become more competitive and we will not need to invest in young second rate foreign players who are simply more advanced than our own boys due to their exposure to a more intense environment during their formative years.”

Knowing the Scottish game from top to bottom in a way the likes of imported Scotland head coaches Matt Williams, Andy Robinson, Scott Johnson, Vern Cotter and even before them Ian McGeechan had no chance of doing, the man who originally made his name through the visionary Merchiston Castle rugby programme has been evangelistic on this subject.

“There is no doubt that this more competitive environment has fired the imagination of many players and coaches and I have been encouraged by feedback from schools and clubs regarding more team training sessions, more strength and conditioning and more skill development sessions in preparation for the new conferences which kicked off this month,” said Hadden.

“With more boys and more teams playing more meaningful rugby and the newly launched academies in place, I am convinced we will produce more players capable of making the transition to senior rugby more quickly".

The coming season will consequently be one of the most important in Scottish rugby’s recent history, regardless of what happens to the national team in its aim to achieve its employers’ strategic target.