Darcy Graham hopes he has done enough to earn World Cup place

Darcy Graham, right, celebrates his try with Scotland team-mate Blair Kinghorn. Picture: AFP/Getty Images

“It will be a nerve-wracking time for me and the family no doubt, but if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be,” he said. “This is obviously my first time being involved in a World Cup training squad, so I’m really excited and just hoping I get that phone call.”

In reality, it would be a surprise if he was not one of the ones getting good news but after the whole team slumped as badly as they did in Nice, he knew the match in Georgia was his only chance to restore his reputation to where it had been.

“We’ll take a fair bit out of the game,” he said after the 44-10 win. “We knew they would be big boys and so we wanted to work on our defence and go out hard there, put our marker down in the first half. We did that, which was excellent.

“We’ve not got a good win record away from home, but we’ve put that to bed there. We’ll take that confidence into next week for Georgia coming to Murrayfield.”

Rory Hutchinson grabbed most of the headlines for his try double on his first start for Scotland – the first cutting back inside the defence after a cut-out pass from Finn Russell, the second a perfect line from deep onto a Blair Kinghorn offload – but it was a strong all-round effort with the forwards standing up against the beefy Georgian pack and the backs finding space. Ben Toolis and Scott Cummings got the pack on the scoresheet with their first Test tries, the first and last of the game, while Graham also chipped in chasing a perfect little grubber kick from Russell.

“It’s always good scoring for your country, you never take that for granted, it’s always memories that will stick,” he said. “That’s a winger’s job – to score tries – and I enjoy it. I love playing with Finn because he’s just quality, absolute world-class.

“I was calling for the kick through. They were up flat and there was nobody in behind. It’s just about  communicating that space.”

In reply, Georgia’s burly forwards hammered into the Scots only to be met with a cast-iron defence with everybody playing their role.

“I took a few bangs but that’s part of the game. You’re always going to get that. I enjoy it a wee bit, but not when you get kicked in the nose, that isn’t great!” Graham said, commenting on a second-half incident reviewed by the officials who ruled it accidental.

Georgia did manage a try through Kakha Asieshvili, plus a couple of kicks, and won the second half in possession and territory terms, but the Scots maul nullified their main weapon and they had little else to offer.