Scotland 33-6 Georgia: Hosts make Gerard Butler smile, but menacing South Africa await

As the 34th man in Scotland’s World Cup squad, Gerard Butler was at Murrayfield on Saturday, a Hollywood luminary sitting in the stand with a smile on his face despite the dreariness of the action in a tepid opening half, an acting performance so convincing it might go down as one of his finest since Machine Gun Preacher.

This was supposed to be Scotland’s tumultuous farewell to Edinburgh before storming off to France but it was not exactly that. It improved considerably as Georgia grew tired and Scotland’s fitness, accuracy and power took hold and there was a lusty goodbye from the fans, who never stop dreaming.

But if South Africa were watching, ahead of the big one in Marseille on 10 September, they likely had their feet up and cigars out.

They will show respect and all that but will believe they have nothing to fear from Scotland. That will not be exclusive to Scotland, of course. After their humbling of New Zealand on Friday night at Twickenham, the Springboks will not be sweating it all that much, no matter who’s down the other end. Scotland, Ireland, France, New Zealand again. Whatever.