Gregor Townsend last night ruled himself out of consideration for the vacant Scotland manager's job.
The Glasgow Warriors head coach was never a likely contender having struggled to make an impact in his three-year stint as part of the Scotland management set up which ended six months ago when he was put in full charge of a team for the first time.
However, he is the only Scot currently in such a position at full-time professional level and has been a surprise choice for each of his posts as Scotland's attack coach and then at Glasgow.
Consequently, it was not inconceivable that he would apply for the role but, when asked yesterday, his initial response was a categorically monosyllabic: "No".
Pressed on whether there were any circumstances in which he thought it could happen, he pointed to his own inexperience.
"My focus is on Glasgow," he said. "I've got lots of work to do here and lots to learn as a coach, as well."
He said he had no opinion on who he would like to see get the job but expressed his confidence in the Scotland squad to turn things around.
"I believe we have a very good group of players that should be getting better results . . . and deserve better results with the effort they put in and we're not too far away from a change in fortune," he added.
"Look at Wales. A couple of victories leads to more confidence, more wins. The opposite's true also with losing; six-in-a-row, but I think we're on a cusp. We've just never got over that hill. We had three good summer wins in the Southern Hemisphere, but we just didn't get the results this autumn."
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