Huw Jones accepts Scotland haven’t delivered consistently enough across recent years to be prove they are a 'top team.
Gregor Townsend’s men were defeated again by elite opposition at Murrayfield on Saturday when they fell 43-21 to New Zealand in the Nations Championship.
The All Blacks extended their unbeaten run against Scotland to 34 games and they never truly appeared flustered, despite a relatively even first half.
Scotland have recorded some famous wins in Townsend’s tenure and boast an excellent record against Australia and England, in particular.
They’ve failed, however, to beat Ireland, South Africa or New Zealand - the three best nations in the world - and there’s a growing acceptance amongst Scottish fans of their position in the pecking order.
Scotland are currently ranked sixth in the world and Jones admits it’s frustrating that they’ve not delivered consistently enough.
“We expect a lot of ourselves, the coaching staff expect a lot of us,” he said. “We know that we have it in us to be a top team but ultimately we've probably not proved it consistently enough yet.
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“Over the past few years, we've had a couple of big wins here and there. But it's about consistency. In these big games, we have a couple of big moments, but that's not enough. We have to be on it for 80 minutes.
“Another message that came through last week was about being tougher than them for longer. Going deep into sets where we knew they'd hold on to the ball and we'd have to hold on to the ball as well.
“In the respect of our attack, I think that was one of those things that we probably didn't manage. It's something we wanted to hang our hat on, but we didn't manage to do that.”
Asked if the lack of consistency was the biggest frustration, Jones continued: “We've got to look at ourselves there because we're the ones out on the pitch. It's those key moments where a lack of concentration [costs you] or maybe it's not even that.
“If you're just a yard the wrong side of a breakdown or the pass is slightly off, these are huge moments where you just have to be incredibly accurate.
"I think the top teams just prove it time and time again why they're the top teams. If you think of New Zealand and South Africa, they get those moments right more often than not.
“Whereas when we do, we look brilliant and everyone says, ‘oh, Scotland play fantastic rugby’. But when we don't, you end up with results like this one.”
Jones’ selection over Rory Hutchinson was one of the biggest calls for Townsend but the Toulon centre impressed.
The British & Irish Lion was arguably the pick of Scotland’s back and there were several trademark breaks.
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“It was another thing we spoke about during last week that we're both attacking teams that want to hold on to the ball,” added Jones. “We felt that at times they might break us and at times we're going to break them, but it's what comes after that.
“Line breaks are great but if you don't score off the back of it, it means nothing. There were times where we did well when we got down into their 22 and were plugging away. We scored a couple of tries obviously but I think on the whole they recovered those moments really well and we didn't do enough to put those chances away.
“I don't think I've ever come into a squad expecting to play. You know that the guys in your position are playing really well. Our squad now, we've built this depth where it is really competitive.
“You know you have to be on it in training. You have to be turning up, ready to go, in the best shape you can be in. That's what I felt I managed to do. I was just grateful for the opportunity to play.”
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