FAR be it from me to be the one who points out the obvious, but Scotland didn’t actually win on Saturday at Twickenham.

Yes it was a miraculous performance in the second half, and the quality of the Scottish rugby was of the highest class, as good a 40 minutes as I have ever seen them play. If they had held on for the win it would have been the biggest comeback since any of Francis Albert Sinatra’s returns, and I would be saying “bring on the world” in Japan in September.

Instead I must issue a note that will probably jar with those fans who watched through disbelieving eyes as the Scots so nearly pulled off an astonishing victory. Scotland are not the finished article, indeed they are far from it.

The fact is that we did not win the match, and though a 38-38 draw against England at Twickers was highly creditable, yet again Scotland were not clinical enough to finish off their opponents. It was a failing that Gregor Townsend’s men also showed against Wales and Ireland at Murrayfield – both of our fellow Celtic nations were there for the taking when Scotland moved into that high gear that we showed for 40 minutes on Saturday.

The squad was riddled with injuries, for sure, and if Stuart Hogg and John Barclay had played, I think we would have won the match because they would have surely come up with a plan to stop the real issue on Saturday – the steamrollering of Scotland in the first half which was frankly appalling to watch.

It’s all very well boasting of the comeback, brilliant as it was, but Scotland should never have been in that position in the first place. The defence was all over the place in the first half, and a lot worse teams than England would have made Scotland pay heavily for such incompetence.

I am also convinced a lot of the reason the Scots made such a dramatic improvement is because of English arrogance – they thought that at 31-0 up, they could take their collective foot off the gas, as their head coach Eddie Jones admitted in the post-match press conference.

Speaking of arrogance, Jones did issue a word of praise for Scotland, but for him it was all about his side’s “100% mental” loss of control, not Scottish superiority. And he was right. England threw away the result, but if the boot had been on the other foot and they had edged ahead with a few minutes to go, you could have bet on England finding a way to preserve their lead – Scotland didn’t do that and paid the price.

The failings showed up several times in the Six Nations, and though the result against Wales should have been different because the referee missed the forward pass to Adams for his try, there can be no excuses for Scotland not playing 80 minutes at full intensity in any of the five matches.

Wales by and large did that, except for parts of the match at Murrayfield and against England, but they deserved the Grand Slam because their defence, which was quite extraordinary at times, never let up apart from the first half in Paris. That slip turned out to be a bonus for them because Warren Gatland tightened things up and though they got lucky against France and Scotland in particular, they still came out on top. Not pretty to watch, but they are on a run which has taken them to second place in the IRB world rankings.

Scotland have been very good to watch at times, and Finn Russell for one has shown he is world class. If Gregor Townsend has learned one lesson from the Six Nations it is that Russell is fast becoming the complete player and he must be encouraged to become even more of a leader on the pitch.

I still say Scotland are the most entertaining side around at the moment, and there’s certainly never a dull moment when the Scots are playing. But come September in Japan, it will not be the most entertaining side which wins the World Cup, it will be the best side, the one which plays for 80 minutes at the highest intensity, the one which puts opponents away, the one that defends and attacks in turn with the most vigour and skill. In other words, New Zealand.

We saw some stirring performances by England, Wales and Ireland in the Six Nations but none that would keep the All Blacks awake at night. They would have watched Scotland’s second half on Saturday and approved of how the Scots came back and almost snatched victory with exceptional rugby. But Scotland are seeded to play the All Blacks if we get to the quarter finals – that’s no gimme, given we have to play host nation Japan and Samoa who will adapt better to the climatic conditions – so you can bet even now that the New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen is working on a plan to stop the Scots playing their best rugby.

In the meantime, let’s just hope we go to Japan with a full squad free of injury. If we get there with all present and correct, and if we play the whole tournament the way we played in the second half at Twickers, Scotland could go far in a tournament which I think the All Blacks will win.

Let’s just hope Scotland have the same will to win as they showed in Saturday’s comeback.