Thomas Castaignede was part of a star-studded Baa-Baas team

"It's really a shame we didn't win because a win would really kick this team along," he said after the 40-33 loss at Murrayfield.

"It's probably the first time I can say I've felt we deserved to win.

"We scored five tries, probably blew four more and we were really creative.There were huge positives."

He added: "Our work at the break-down was much better than the Six Nations, our off-loading was much better, our organisation, focus of attack and support play were all better.

"The percentage of things we did wrong was much, much lower than in the Six Nations, but when you come away from the 22 you must come away with points, whether it's three, five or seven, and we just didn't."

The Australian remains frustrated by defensive lapses, however.

You can't miss first-up tackles against guys of the calibre of the Baa-Baas Matt Williams

"It drives me crazy, because just before half-time we missed three tackles and with the great individuals they've got we went 28-7 behind," he said.

"We still clawed our way back, but it shows how much we have improved and how hard the guys have been working. We're just not doing it for 80 minutes.

"We seem to have a concentration thing where we just miss tackles and you can't miss first-up tackles against guys of the calibre of the Baa-Baas."

Captain Scott Murray feels his team-mates need to learn to be composed in the last third of the pitch to break down defences.

"It's partly my fault - I didn't stress enough that when you're in the game zone you've just got to palm the ball down and get your hands on it," he said.

"That's something I learnt today for the games to come."

Barbarians' coach Bob Dwyer admitted to being impressed with the Scots' attacking play, but warned that Williams' side looked vulnerable in defence.

He said: "It was the sort of game where it was very hard to tell - when we played quick ball, I thought we did quite well, but then we tried the idea of claiming no ball at all and that didn't work nearly as well."