Sale Sharks forward Jason White says Scottish rugby must be making progress - because he has himself has been relegated to the international bench. Donnie Macfadyen and Ally Hogg have occupied the back-row against Japan and then the weekend defeat by Australia.
And White said: "I'm disappointed to be on the bench, but it's a squad system and the boys in there are playing well.
"There's no doubt we've made progress in recent games. We gave them a game but were let down by a few mistakes."
White was among Scotland's top performers earlier this year but has been unable to break back into the team after missing out on the first meeting with Australia due to club commitments.
Coach Matt Williams has kept faith with Macfadyen and Hogg, while Glasgow number eight Jon Petrie has been in fine form at the base of the scrum.
 |  Hopefully turn the progress we've made into a win |
"It's obviously great to see those guys playing well and it's up to me to keep working hard in training and take my chance when it next comes," said White after the 31-17 defeat at Hampden Park. "These are the games that you want to play in and it'll do Donnie and Ally a lot of good to play against these top teams.
"We know we need to cut out those mistakes if we are to beat these teams.
"We knew what we had to do against Australia. We knew we had to have a go at them. We did that but just lacked a finish a couple of times."
Tri-Nations champions South Africa are due at Murrayfield on Saturday.
"We know we'll face a physical battle, but the forward pack will be ready and up for the challenge and hopefully turn the progress we've made into a win," said White.
Australia captain George Gregan agrees that Scotland have developed into a better team, having met them five times in a year.
"Scotland played well," he said. "They took their chances to put pressure on us and gave us plenty to think about."
MMIX
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