Hadden admitted in the Herald newspaper that he had resisted the departures of Nikki Walker and Scott MacLeod from Borders last year, but that their subsequent development at their new teams - Walker at the Ospreys and MacLeod at the Scarlets - cannot be anything but positive.

The Scotland coach now fears that while his own national team will be strengthened by other players departing, the future of his three provincial teams is bleak indeed.

"What has happened is that the squads down south have got bigger and bigger, which allows them to rotate players just because they have the financial resources to be able to have the number of players they have in their squads," Hadden said, in response to a question about the growing injury list in Scottish franchise squads.

"We have to aspire to getting that number of players available for our teams."

Many countries prefer to have home-based players only, and that was once a strict Scottish mantra, but Hadden - as Jake White did with South Africa - relaxed that rule two years ago, bringing Perpignan-based Nathan Hines among others.

"It's good for us to have some guys playing out of Scotland because it adds to the mix," continued Hadden.

"It could be too incestuous otherwise. It's good to hear what they're doing. Nathan Hines tells me about what's going on in French rugby, for example, and it's useful to hear what different clubs do, how they go about their business. You're always picking up wee tips here and there.

"I hope we'll hear a fair bit about what the Welsh are doing and what the English are doing in their preparation by contact with these players."

But the crucial lines of communication are also compromised if other international players do follow suit, added to the weakening of the already under-performing Scottish regions.

"We don't want that to happen because you don't have the same control," Hadden added.

"I can't see them often enough, I can't speak to them often enough and that's an important part of the preparation for international rugby as well."