For the rugby connoisseur it has been an autumn of epic encounters as the sport’s big seven, the nations that have won all its major titles in the 21st century, have fought out a series of ferocious battles for little more than bragging rights.

Rarely, outside a World Cup window, has there been such sustained intensity, with no more than a single score between the sides in every match between Australia, the team that came into this Millennium as world champions and won the Rugby Championship in its first two years; the trio that have succeeded them as World Cup winners, England, South Africa and New Zealand; and the three nations that have, like England, won Six Nations Grand Slams in this era – Ireland, Wales and France.

Culminating in last weekend’s performance by Ireland which surely confirmed that on current form this year’s Grand Slam winners are the world’s best, style may largely have had to be sacrificed, but that tends to be the nature of high class rugby when teams are evenly matched. It is hard to remember too much in the way of flowing play from any of the World Cup finals contested to date with almost a third of the 16 tries scored in those eight matches having been registered last time around.

This has been Test rugby in its truest sense with Scotland, Argentina and Japan all offering their supporters encouragement, without quite being able to land a telling blow. For the most part it all drops down a level this weekend, with Australia’s visit to England the only clash between two of that big seven. There remains something a bit strange about Eddie Jones, the vanquished coach on the day England became world champions in 2003, having charge of the home team at Twickenham with the Wallabies the visitors, but that is the nature of the mercenary modern game, examination of which has added an extra element to this weekend’s match in Edinburgh.

A tweet issued by Gus Pichot, vice chairman of World Rugby, has caused something of a social media stir, seeing the Argentinian accused of xenophobia for daring to publish a league table that shows the percentage of imported players the top 11 in world rugby currently rely upon. Clearly there is a point being made on his own nation’s behalf, since along with South Africa, Argentina is one of just two teams to have fielded no players born in another country.

More than a few will be deeply uncomfortable about the fact that Scotland tops the list on 46.3%. Indeed, even those of us who have long taken the view that birthplace is irrelevant and, rather than engage in Rowlingesque pureblood v mudlblood debate, recognise that all that matters is that a player is qualified to represent a country and committed to doing so, must admit that is an extraordinary figure.

As to attributing sinister motivation to Pichot’s tweet, which simply contains the list of figures without comment, his critics might more usefully consider whether a man holding a post with global responsibility for the sport’s growth, might be making a valid point about many countries’ failure to develop players.

As part of the closed Six Nations club, Scotland has become one of the world’s richest rugby nations and is finally threatening to close the gap on the rest, but Pichot’s figures effectively invite us to consider how that is being done, buying in talent always having been a much easier route to success than the hard business of development.

In the context of the hard-fought Test battles of this autumn, then, it is worth noting that this month’s only match between two of the current top eight in the world rankings (also those which formed the original International Rugby Board curiously enough) to have been won by more than a single score, saw Wales beat Scotland 21-10 when both had to rely on home-based players.

With all their exiles available Scotland got closer to the Springboks, albeit they were again unable to get in front at any stage. However, expected as Scotland are to get the better of the 2007 and 2015 World Cup semi-finalists this weekend, a meeting with a team that that is entirely homegrown and home-based perhaps offers further insight into the reasons behind what are now decades of failure in the professional rugby age.