Another long-awaited win saw the good times continue to roll when Scotland play on their own turf at BT Murrayfield with pragmatism now underpinning their philosophy once more.

This is a team that has come a long way in three weeks during which time there has been noticeably less public evangelising about seeking to play the world’s fastest rugby and more emphasis on finding ways to win since their return home from Cardiff in a state of embarrassed shock.

It was England’s turn to do that on Saturday after they were subjected to a first-half assault led, as happened against France 13 days earlier, by an old stager who has endured too many painful defeats and now wants to take every opportunity to savour victories whenever possible.

Whereas Greig Laidlaw’s return had made all the difference against the French, appearing to reintroduce some of the values championed by previous coach Vern Cotter in seeking to identify the right moments to release Scotland’s attacking potential so, this time, the scrum-half’s replacement as captain John Barclay offered an exemplary lead.

The flanker carried the ball more than any other Scot, made as many tackles as any other than human chainsaw Jonny Gray and even won more lineout ball than his locks, yet it was at the breakdown that his influence was most obvious and what was most telling about that was his description of how Scotland responded to what was in front of them.

“We actually spoke about probably not competing as much at the breakdown this week,” said Barclay, stifling a laugh as he seemed to realise how odd that must sound in light of his own success there in particular.

“It was just that opportunities presented themselves and we’ve got some guys who are pretty good there and made some smart decisions. Ultimately sometimes those opportunities don’t present themselves and that’s just the nature of the beast and today they did.”

It seems the big lesson from Cardiff, where Barclay uncharacteristically conceded a foolish penalty to seal Scotland’s fate in what appeared to be a desperate attempt to up the ante, is that senior players must be trusted and prepared to take full responsibility on the field rather than simply instructed to seek to inject speed in every situation.

Their capacity to do so clearly wrong-footed Eddie Jones who, whatever he intended, came across as being far from complimentary in his pre-tournament analysis of Scotland as earning plaudits for playing "side-to-side rugby". That seemed vindicated when Wales capitalised on Scotland’s desire to throw the ball around in Cardiff, but England’s head coach admitted to suffering a painful lesson when paying tribute to Scotland’s performance in out-playing his side, while lamenting his own team’s failure at the breakdown, their disorganisation in defence and their general lack of intensity.

Unlike his two-try namesake in the Scottish midfield, Jones did not cover himself in glory particularly when becoming rather petty in evading discussion of the pre-match rumpus –which, caught on camera, may yet have consequences for apparent instigator Owen Farrell – by asking his English questioner whether he had an iphone 10 because "the vision’s better on an iphone 10".

History does, however, tell us the English response to such setbacks could be telling. Their 1990 defeat in the Grand Slam decider was succeeded by back-to-back Grand Slams of their own, sandwiching a World Cup final appearance, while their defeat in 2000 played a part in galvanising their World Cup winning campaign over the next three years.

They do so having proved in winning 24 of their previous 25 matches under Jones, during which they have shown they can do what Scotland have not been able to for many years, by regularly winning big matches away from home.

Such progress cannot be achieved overnight, however, and within this Scotland squad are many of those who toiled miserably under Andy Robinson and Scott Johnson, then suffered a second "whitewash" in four years in Vern Cotter’s first season before he started turning things around.

Now to a first win over France in a decade in 2016, first Six Nations opening day win in 11 years last season and first defeat of Wales in a decade, also last season, can be added a first defeat of England in a decade, all achieved at BT Murrayfield, which can once again be considered a place that opponents should fear to visit.

In some senses it was a strange encounter because England ultimately enjoyed advantages of 56 per cent in terms of possession and 57 per cent in terms of territory, yet gained the upper hand in both only after Scotland had set up their platform for victory with 22 first-half points and their first three tries on their home ground against their oldest foes since 2004. The free-scoring Huw Jones’ brace saw him show his opportunism once more, either side of the most expertly crafted try in which he also played a vital role before Sean Maitland was put in by the second of two brilliant Russell miss passes in a fine sequence of play.

It was by far Scotland’s biggest Six Nations win over England – Greig Laidlaw adding another seven points to his international tally – while Russell, who earned his man-of-the-match award as much for the manner of his nerveless response to the heavy criticism to which he had rightly been subjected over the previous few weeks, deservedly got on the scoresheet with a late penalty, with Farrell scoring all England’s points including their solitary try early in the second half.