No sooner than the final whistle had sounded at the Millennium Stadium than Twickenham rang to a now familiar refrain, the sound of the next opposition coach being praised by Michael Cheika.

“What I know is that Vern Cotter is a very clever coach,” was the Wallabies head coach’s assessment of his Scottish counterpart.

“He’s had a very successful time in France. As an Anglo-Saxon coach it’s not always easy to succeed in France and he’s done that so he’s got a very strong plan and I’m sure he’ll have them very ready for the knockout games which start now.”

All very flattering, but as Warren Gatland, the Wales head coach, said when told Cheika had described him as a “genius” in the build-up to Saturday’s match, he had said something pretty similar about Stuart Lancaster before putting his England team to the sword a week before that.