IT seems like a very long time since the summer tour of the Southern Hemisphere by Scotland, and given the freezing weather of the last few days most people will have forgotten that Scotland actually did quite well on that tour, beating Italy and Australia before the defeat by Fiji, or should I say Leone Nakarawa.

That loss should remind everyone in Scottish rugby that South Sea islanders can always surprise you and the match against Samoa on Saturday is definitely no gimme even if we are ranked much higher than our opponents in the world rankings – sixth as opposed to 16th.

We will do well to keep that ranking after these Autumn Tests, not least because we have Wales, France, Fiji and Argentina breathing down our necks, though conversely if we win against Samoa and Australia – victory over the All Blacks is impossible – we could go up the table if other results favour us.

The question now is can Gregor Townsend’s squad maintain the momentum they have been building?

It is not a total catastrophe that Scotland will be missing captain Greg Laidlaw and most-capped player Ross Ford for the Autumn Tests and probably the start of the Six Nations as well, but it is not far off disastrous.

For Laidlaw was not just the hub around which much of Scotland’s play depended, but he was also a reliable source of points with his boot.

His absence means that Ali Price has a real chance of confirming himself as Laidlaw’s successor in the No 9 jersey but Henry Pyrgos and the uncapped Nathan Fowles will be pressing for that recognition, too.

Ross Ford’s absence is a real sickener as his vast experience would have been a huge asset against all three visiting teams, and with Fraser Brown also out, Stuart McInally will be first choice but uncapped George Turner might get a chance to show what he can do – he’s too good to be a mere loanee from Edinburgh to the Warriors.

And wouldn’t it be amazing if Neil Cochrane could get a cap at the ripe old age of 33.

Richie Gray will also be much missed but I’m looking forward to seeing what Scott Cummings can do.

The recall of Magnus Bradbury is only common sense and being stripped of Edinburgh’s captaincy has probably been enough of a punishment for his bit of late-night idiocy.

Our backs should still be a class above Samoa, and given sufficient ball I expect Finn Russell, Tommy Seymour and Stuart Hogg to rip right through them.

All I’m hoping, however, is that the tough tackling of the Samoans is not over the top and that all our players get to 4.30pm on Saturday without injury. Needless to say, that goes for the Samoa players, too.

It has been a much interrupted preparation for Scotland with all the injuries and now we will really find out if we have real strength in depth, particularly among the contingent that have yet to be capped.