18- year wait for victory

there,” Blair continued. “It’s an amazing pitch and atmosphere and arena. I know our record’s not been great there, but I think the guys enjoy playing there.

“But it’ll be so different at Scarlets. There are good memories from there, and that might be something as well, it being a place where many of the squad have won.

“I don’t think [ the lack of a crowd] will be an advantage in its own right, but compared to playing in a packed- out Principality Stadium there is a big difference there. I think I’m right in saying in March the roof was due to be open. The other part of it is when the roof is closed the noise is a lot more – and that can really spur them on.

“So them not having the crowd there takes a little bit of that away, but crowds whether for you or against you create energy. And a big thing for our players is to create our own energy in a very quiet Scarlets stadium.”

Seven months ago Scotland travelled south in high spirits following Six Nations wins over Italy and France, and were frustrated to learn on the eve of the game that it had been called off as Covid restrictions began to tighten around the UK. The momentum generated by those two Championship victories may have dissipated somewhat, but last week’s win over Georgia did no harm to the confidence levels.

“We had great momentum going into that game [ in March] and there was a lot of frustration about it being called off, because we felt that they were there kind of there for the taking,” Blair added. “A lot of time has gone by since then, we got a good win against Georgia under our belt, we’ve got a few guys playing right at the top level back in the team. We’re still aware that Wales are a very strong team, but we feel we’re in a good place.”