By Steve Scott, rugby correspondent

If Matt Williams is as impressive a coach as he is a speaker, then Scotland’s slump down the world rankings of rugby is about to be promptly arrested and propelled in the opposite direction.

Worries that Scotland’s first foreign coach might be in thrall to the big names he succeeded were quickly dismissed at his first Press conference on Monday.

Within hours of officially taking the post, he exerted his authority upon the Scottish game, cut loose the old regime almost in entirety, and gave a new sense of purpose to rugby in this country.

However, much is needed to be done as a symbolic move as much as anything, demanding the retirement of Gregor Townsend—a decision that the 82-times capped player was apparently unable to make himself—was daring, but to follow that by implementing the Fortress Scotland plan bordered on the audacious.

The clumsy name of the policy apart, Williams’ has made the right decision in making it official that our international players must stay in Scotland for rugby here to “survive and thrive”.

Scottish rugby has scant enough resources to allow them to be controlled by a third party, and the competitiveness of the Celtic League, underlined by recent Heineken Cup results, ends the argument that the Zurich Premiership is a better testing ground for the top Scottish players.

That no less a figure in Scottish Rugby than Jim Telfer often toyed with implementing such a policy but never felt able to risk it shows what a clear vision Williams has brought.

Indeed, such was the scope of that vision that predecessor Ian McGeechan, ostensibly his immediate boss as the new director of rugby, looked bewildered a few seats away at the Press conference and now seems hopelessly isolated within the much-changed corridors at Murrayfield.

But before we all get too carried away, a few well-spun catchphrases, a logical policy move and a reshuffling of resources—nobody seems to know if there is any new money for Scotland’s “under- resourced” professional game—aren’t likely to see us shoot back into the top five in the world rankings by themselves.

The true benefits of what Williams announced, he himself admitted, are going to be long-term and he was at pains to stress that the next 18 months would be a difficult time for the Scottish international team.

However much it needed to be done, cutting loose 317 caps in the shape of Townsend, Bryan Redpath, Kenny Logan, Glenn Metcalfe, Martin Leslie and James McLaren leaves the Scots set-up low on experienced hands.

The staleness of the team at the Rugby World Cup in Australia has gone, but it will take time for the new faces to find their feet.

However, the direction seems clear. Those who were hoping for a diminution of the pro-team strategy have been disabused entirely as Williams has placed the three sides at the very centre of his plan.

Moving Scotland’s training base away from Murrayfield will allow the SRU to make better use of the wide open spaces of the stadium complex, much of which is only used for car parking at internationals. Scotland’s behind the scenes team will at last match the professional standards elsewhere, and they will be at the call of the pro team coaches.

It’s joined-up rugby at last, in the manner of England’s successful programme. Scotland will always lack the playing resources of other major nations, but at least now we can get back to making them go further than anyone else.