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After the South Africa game, Rassie Erasmus said Scotland were a top-three nation in the world, presumably behind his own side and France. <\/p>\n
With Rassie you never know what sort of agenda might lie behind his public comments – there’s usually something – but it was an eyebrow-raiser nonetheless.<\/p>\n
In the wake of Fiji, Schoeman – two tries this summer – went down a similar road when asked if he felt Scotland were closing the gap on the world’s best sides. <\/p>\n
“No, I don’t feel we’re closing the gap,” he added. “I feel we are a top-three, top-five team in the world. We’ve proven that – Argentina away, France, England, we play [and beat] the top dogs.<\/p>\n
“South Africa, Ireland, All Blacks, we haven’t had too much love there. That’s maybe the games we want to target, to go against the best. Just to go full toe-to-toe with them for a full 80-minute performance.”<\/p>\n
Top three is a big stretch, but there are moments in games when you think Scotland have it within them to lay the ghosts of Ireland and New Zealand to rest. <\/p>\n
They’ll get a crack at the Kiwis in the autumn and will play Ireland in the spring, both at Murrayfield. <\/p>\n
As much as the Nations Championship has been a try-laden fun-fest, the real battle and barometer of progress remains the Six Nations. <\/p>\n
Scotland are trending in the right direction but summer and autumn have always been an unreliable guide to their true worth. <\/p>\n
Enjoy the quality of some of their rugby over the last three weeks, but put it in context, too. The Six Nations and World Cup remain where it’s at.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n