Still a lot of work to do, admits Robinson

With a clean sweep on their Southern Hemisphere tour, Scotland have gone a long way towards redemption after their World Cup and Six Nations disasters, but head coach Andy Robinson admits there is still a lot of work to do.

Replacement Rob Harley scored a dramatic late try on his international debut to rescue Scotland from a shock defeat by Samoa in Apia, the visitors winning 17-16.

“There was a great attitude throughout the three games, the willpower to succeed was brilliant across the whole squad,” Robinson said of the tour, which also included wins over Australia and Fiji.

“Winning these three matches was important. Winning is what we are here for, it is the whole reason for playing but when you are playing international rugby, these things can be decided by inches – though I have got to say that if you had offered me three victories at the start of the tour, I would certainly have taken it.”

Wales caretaker coach Rob Howley remained proud of his side for running Australia so close despite three successive defeats in their hard-fought Test series.

There were a mere 11 points separating the two teams over the three games in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, with the third Test at the weekend decided by a single point in favour of the Wallabies 20-19.

“The experience the players have had in Australia will help us to improve. Our attitude and effort got us so close to beating the Wallabies and we have left a mark here that we are quite proud of,” said Howley.

“I am immensely proud of this group of players and there are a lot of good ingredients that have come out of the last three weeks that should make them feel pretty proud of their efforts.”

England head coach Stuart Lancaster believes his team have made good progress on their South Africa tour but remains far from satisfied.

With the series lost after defeats in Durban and Johannesburg, they at least ended on a positive note by claiming a creditable 14-14 draw in the final Test at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

Lancaster said: “It has been a fantastic opportunity to take a wider group of players and work with them. That has been the real benefit of the tour, getting a real understanding of the strengths and areas we need to look at to go forward.”

France ended its 14-year losing streak in Argentina in style by blowing away Argentina 49-10 in the second rugby test on Saturday.

Frederic Michalak scored 19 points on his first French start in five years as Les Bleus recorded their biggest ever win over the Pumas, exacting revenge for last weekend’s last-gasp 23-20 loss in Cordoba to level the two-test series.