After laughing off Twitter meme of him as team’s old man

Cotter, in understanding when to attack and when it would be counter-productive to be too aggressive.

“That comes with experience,” said Laidlaw.

“Where I am placed in the team it is such a crucial link it comes back to the small margins of winning Test matches.

“If you choose to run at the wrong time it can cost you points. Sometimes it is a simple case of just get the ball down the field and say to the opposition you have to score from 70 metres.

“We have to keep the boys reminded we have a good defence as well and use that to our advantage. We don’t need to have the ball all the time to put the opposition under pressure.”

That said, he recognises that he too has to prove his worth every time he takes the field for his country.

“I’m delighted to be back in the team, but there no point being in the team just to be there, it is about adding things to the team and ultimately tomorrow it is about winning,” he said.

“We need to win tomorrow to drive the team forward into the Six Nations which is the next time we come together.

“If you look at Ireland developing that real winning culture, and I think were not too far behind, but we just need to get over in these tight games and tomorrow, if its tight, we just need to make sure we get over the line in these big moments in the Test match.”