A decade on and Fergus Thomson can still remember clearly the moment Ross Ford went down injured in the Scotland-England Calcutta Cup match on March 8 2008.

He was on the bench at the time and it was only the 25th minute. Scotland had already lost winger Rory Lamont to injury five minutes earlier and soon Thomson, then of Glasgow Warriors, was coming onto the field at hooker.

“Before that game my international experience had been pretty limited [he had come off the bench in six previous Tests] so to get almost an hour against England was a big moment for me and time to show people what I could do,” Fergus recounts.

“It was a very physical game, there was not a lot of expansive rugby played, but it was all about getting the result. Underfoot conditions were not the best, but as a scrum we just knuckled down and got on with things.

“To hear that final whistle was a pretty sweet moment.

“I don’t know if there are many people who have done it, but that victory actually meant that I had beaten England at under-19, 21, ‘A’’ and full levels.”

Scotland won that game 15-9, Chris Paterson kicking four penalties and Dan Parks one.

Fergus only went on to win one more Scotland cap after that day, starting against Italy in Rome seven days later.

Such are the highs and lows of Scottish sport that the team actually lost that one 23-20 at the Stadio Flaminio.