The Calamity in Cardiff, the Horror of Houston, the Nightmare in Nice - the lowlights reel of Scotland's travails away from the warm bosom of Murrayfield is long and downright ugly.

Skelped in Suva, trounced at Twickenham in 2017 - there was no miracle comeback that day - the list goes on and the secret to curing their away-day struggles seems no closer to discovery.

It must be said that this inability to produce anything remotely resembling top form away from home is not exclusive to Gregor Townsend or the current crop of players. The thing is, though, the current crop of players are the best Scotland have been able to call upon in a long time.

And there is evidence, when they get things right, they can be a force away from home. The stunning win in Sydney over Australia in Townsend's second game in charge. An impressive dismantling of Argentina in Resistencia. The fight-back of all fight-backs at Twickenham in March.

Those moments are bright spots in an otherwise bleak picture, though. Scotland have won just two of 40 games at the home of England, France, Wales and Ireland in the Six Nations era. Yes, two.

Their most recent away assignment took them to Nice for the first of four World Cup warm-up matches. For the second time this year, they were brutalised into submission by a French team who deployed the weapon Away Scotland (a different proposition entirely to Home Scotland) have been continually unable to cope with - power.

Home Scotland met fire with fire in the physical stakes and largely nullified France at Murrayfield last weekend. But Away Scotland are yet to prove they can stand up and face down powerful opponents - and Saturday's opponents will have plenty of power.

'Georgia will go full metal jacket'

Georgia will be pumped for this match, make no mistake. They have been waiting a long time for this.

Rugby's ludicrously outdated Tier system means the leading nations have been able to largely ignore the lesser lights who reside outside their exclusive club. The odd invitation to travel to the big guns for a one-off Test match? Perhaps. But going to Georgia? No thanks.

Scotland are the first to come here for a meaningful match and they deserve credit for doing so. This will be no welcome party, though. Georgia see this as a chance to make a statement, to add more fuel to the idea the Six Nations should one day become the Seven Nations.

Scotland must be ready for a side going full metal jacket. On paper, Townsend's side are clearly the superior team but the forwards will have to match up to a formidable pack if the backs are to make their greater quality shine through.

A front row compromising Montpellier loosehead Mikheil Nariashvili, former Glasgow hooker Shalva Mamukashvili and Grenoble's Beka Gigashvili is a combination that will throw down a monstrous challenge to Scottish counterparts Allan Dell, Stuart McInally and Willem Nel.

Behind the scrum has traditionally been where Georgia's problems arise, but in scrum-half Vasil Lobzhanidze and fly-half Tedo Abzhandadze - who will continue their partnership at French side Brive next season - they possess a half-back combination with the quality to hurt the Scots should the home side begin to exert dominance up front.

Townsend's decision to select so many of his key men - Stuart McInally and Hamish Watson in the pack, Greig Laidlaw and Finn Russell at half-back - speaks to a determination, even a desperation, to pick up a rare away win.

The thought of going into a World Cup without Russell or Watson does not bear thinking about from a Scottish perspective, but it seems the prospect of travelling to Japan with a damaging defeat in Tbilisi fresh in the players' minds is an equally unpalatable prospect for the head coach.

Georgia will carry every ball with thunderous physicality, scrummage for their lives, hit each ruck as if its their last, roared on by 55,000 passionate fans. Scotland must be ready for it, for all of it.

The players have spoken often about how away games are largely about getting the mindset right. On too many occasions minds have turned to mush and the damage has been irreparable.

Will we get the timidity of Away Scotland? Or will we see some of the Murrayfield spirit in the hothouse of the Dinamo Arena? Only the latter will do.