JUST about the best thing about Scotland's Rugby World Cup campaign is - the way we have sailed into the quarter-finals, under the radar. Perhaps only Argentine, of the other seven survivors have attracted less media coverage than us.
Of course, the fact the 2015 tournament was being held in England meant that as far as the mainstream United Kingdom media outlets were concerned, their approach was going to be at the default setting of: all about England, with the other Home Nations, particularly those rebellious Scots, very much an afterthought.
Indeed, in the Guardian, just one London-based paper, to whom Scotland is a small, far-away, unimportant country - of which they know nothing and care even less, Vern Cotter and his squad have received less coverage than several of the no-hoper Tier Two nations who are now packing their bags for home.
Certainly, now we have switched our base from Newcastle-on-Tyne to Guildford, the metropolitan media just might find their way out to leafy Surrey to write something about us. However, I do not expect what they write to be in any way encouraging and anything less than condescending.
If we beat Australia, at Twickenham, on Sunday: and I accept this is a big ask of our squad, the Wallabies will surely, and rightly, start as favourites, the likelihood is that the mainstream media (msm) will view this as more a case of Australia losing than Scotland winning. There will also, if we win, be various articles of the "it should have been England" variety. We will be damned by faint praise, if praised at all.
But, we have beaten Australia in the recent past. An antipodean win is not a given. It is a huge ask of our guys, but, we are far from being no-hopers.
Australia were mightily-impressive in beating Wales. Their defence for those seven or eight minutes when, deep in their own 22, they were 13 v 15 against a fired-up Wales, was truly heroic. The defence of Rorke's Drift is rightly a high-point in Welsh military history. Saturday night was a similar action (without the bullets), but, this time - the Welsh were the Zulus.
Of course, Wales, under Gatland, are schooled in Route One Warrenball. Biff, bang, bosh is their creed. I would expect Scotland, in similar circumstances of possession and position, to find a way to get the likes of Hogg, Maitland, Bennett or Seymour dancing into what little space there was. Or, to see WP Nel making a successful ultra-low-level assault on the Aussie line.
Our exit in the quarter-finals is not a given - we can go further.
SOME commentators are stupidly saying, quarter-finals three and four: Ireland v Argentine and Australia v Scotland is the "easy" half of the draw. This overlooks the fact, there are no easy games at this stage in a global tournament.
Also, given the fact the winners of the Six Nations - Ireland, and the winners of the Rugby Championship - Australia, the best teams this season in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are in this half of the draw - how can it be the "easy" half?
Ireland paid a heavy price in beating France; for all their undoubted strength-in-depth, they would surely rather have Paul O'Connel and Jonny Sexton playing against Argentine, without these two very-influential players, they will find it a lot tougher to beat the South Americans, who gave the All Blacks a searching examination and have improved since.
The other half of the draw is like a heavyweight boxing elimination competition. South Africa, Wales, France and New Zealand will knock lumps out of each other in the quarter and semi-finals.
You still have to give massive and correct respect to the All Blacks, but, that impossible dream of mine - of Scotland finally posting that first win over the men in black - in the final, at Twickenham. Well, it is still there.
FINALLY, in bidding adieu to the sides who failed to get out of the pools, we should pay tribute to the heroic under-dogs, in particular to Japan and Fiji, and to the players such as DTH Van der Merwe and Leone Nakarawa, who showed, you don't have to play for a big country to be a superstar.
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