FORGET the Caledonian cringe. It seems Scotland’s rugby players are now striding about with a sonsie swagger.

“We’re having a ball out there, there are smiles on faces and that’s the way we want to play,” said an understandably cheery Peter Horne in the triumphant aftermath of Saturday’s Murrayfield mauling of the Australians.

As records tumbled like the result of a collapsed shelving unit in a second-hand vinyl store, Horne was left to savour the new-found optimism in the ranks.

Rampantly running in eight tries against the team ranked third in the world – albeit one reduced to 14 men – would even give Private Frazer cause for positivity.

“We’ve been talking about how the belief in the squad is really changing,” said Horne. “Probably in the last few years, you wouldn’t leave the changing room thinking: “we’re going to beat this Australian side today’.

“But that was certainly the mood in the camp this time. It was the same with the All Blacks too. That’s why we were all so distraught to lose that game.

“Against New Zealand we made a bit of a statement, showing that if we keep hold of the ball we can cut up one of the best teams in the world.

“Thankfully we have backed that up against a really good Aussie side and put them to the sword. Maybe in the past we’ve not been clinical enough. So eight tries is pretty cool.

“But we really need to keep kicking on. We don’t want to take one step forward and two back. It’s important that we knuckle down in the next few months and come out all guns blazing in the Six Nations.”

Horne was drafted into Gregor Townsend’s starting line-up on Friday as a replacement for Alex Dunbar while the re-jigging continued right up until kick-off with Byron McGuigan coming in as a last-gasp switch for the injured Stuart Hogg.

Dunbar is the defence captain for Scotland but Horne can fulfil many of those roles too and the 28-year-old once again demonstrated the versatility of a Swiss Army knife with another polished performance.

“Although Alex and I are different, I try to have my imprint on the game,” added the Glasgow Warriors man. “There have been a lot of things I had to work on. Last season, I was maybe a bit off the ball on defence. But it’s an aspect of my game that is really coming back again.

“That’s something that Alex is brilliant at. And I aspire to be like him a bit more. He defends so well, he’s our defensive leader. When I come in, I’ve got to fill those shoes. The Aussies are a really good attacking threat, so it’s a real challenge. I just see it as an opportunity if I get a run.

Despite the various shufflings, choppings and changings, the Scots adapted and produced a performance of boundless verve that roused the senses, raised the spirits and illustrated the depth of talent in the ranks.

“The only thing Gregor will ever fault you on is work rate,” noted Horne. “If you’re not working hard then you’re not going to play. He doesn’t ever put the shackles on expressing yourself. He encourages Finn [Russell], Ali [Price], myself and the boys to go out there and express ourselves.

“It doesn’t matter who is playing. Whoever gets the jersey is expected to do the job. So we didn’t have Hoggy against Australia and I think a few people in the stands would have been grumbling when they saw him go off in the warm-up.

“But Byron comes in and gets man of the match, Sean [Maitland] is outstanding at full-back, Ruaridh Jackson comes on to the bench and he’s having a cracking season.

“Within the squad, you have to put it out of your mind and be chuffed for the next boy getting his opportunity. Everybody is taking it at the moment.”

Huw Jones, who has been a terrific addition to the Scotland squad and scored on Saturday to take his try tally to seven in 11 Test matches, also pinpointed the depth of quality at Townsend’s disposal.

“One thing Scotland have lacked in the past is depth,” he added. “But there seems to be a debut every game now, and they’re all playing well.

“I don’t think we’re at our peak. We’re building something really exciting and looking to get better. And we definitely can do that. We haven’t spoken about the Six Nations much yet. But we’ve got high aspirations.”

There can be no resting on the laurels after this historic conquest. For Scotland, it’s onwards and upwards.