Zander Fagerson

Zander Fagerson has been Scotland’s tighthead for a decade, which in a country that has historically had to improvise in the front row is an achievement in itself.

He scrummages at a level that means Scotland can plan rather than survive, and he does it while carrying more than most tightheads are asked to. Glasgow’s attacking shape has used him as a genuine ball-carrying option, not simply a body at the first phase.

A Lions selection confirmed what Scottish supporters had known for years: the set piece holds, and the loose play adds.

Discipline at the scrum has occasionally cost him — a tighthead who pushes the boundary of the engagement will lose some of those calls — and injuries have taken chunks of seasons.

Scotland’s pack has been rebuilt more than once around him. When he is unavailable the difference in the scrum is immediate and measurable, which is the clearest possible statement of value.