Scotland caretaker coach Scott Johnson wants his side to adopt a ruthless mentality if they want to be competitive.
Johnson's charges battled bravely before suffering a 23-16 defeat to France in Paris but he reminded his players that despite their great effort they did not achieve much.
"We have to get rid of the mentality that near enough is good enough," he said.
"We've got to learn the habit of putting sides to bed.
"There's been progress but like all things it has taken steps forward in some areas, steps backward in others. It never comes as quickly as you like it to.
"We're under no illusions where we are. The game of rugby is constantly changing as it always does and you have to take note of that and move with it."
Johnson hailed his back-line's effort against les Bleus and is optimistic about Scotland's future.
"I was really, really proud of our defence, it was superb," Johnson added.
"However, the flip side of the coin regarding our play was our kick returns were not good and that allowed the French to put us under pressure time and again.
"They have given 100 percent and I salute their resolve."
Comments
gferg01 says...
I actually believe that if Scotland approached the Wales and France games with the same attitude towards Italy and were focused on playing fast ball I think the outcome would have been much different. I don't know why Scotland struggle with confidence, they need to be more positive and be a more attacking focused team. I wish they would just go through the fazes and keep the ball and stop putting themselves under pressure by kicking when you don't have to.
Posted 21:10 18th March 2013
porridge_time says...
Find myself agreeing with what Johnson is saying here. Also think that he needs a little bit more time in the job. We had injury issues with Rennie, Fusaro and Barclay was not the player he was before his injury.
There are some good young player coming through... yes it would appear that we kicked a lot of possession away and I feel that Brown as captain and Laidlaw are the right guys to take the team forward. However, I did get the impression that they felt the manner in which they beat Ireland, would work against Wales and France.
I'm hoping that there will be a low Scots Lions contingent so this current crop of players can tour SA together. Sending a development XV to SA is pointless given the nature of the series over there. We are pitted against SA and Samoa in the group stages. In my opinion the SRU's priority should be to foster and fashion a team/squad that is more than capable of challenging for next years Six Nations, title, but making it through to the knock out stages of the 2015 WC.
Posted 01:41 18th March 2013