Vern Cotter might have his roots on the other side of the world, but debutant centre Mark Bennett revealed on Saturday that the national team's head coach has been instilling some distinctly Scottish values in his players since stepping into the job a few months ago.
It was confirmed last week that Cotter had canvassed the opinions of some of Scotland's greatest rugby names in his drive to get the team playing the right way, and Bennett acknowledged that the thoughts of Ian McGeechan, Jim Telfer and Andy Irvine had been guiding influences on the training pitch in the build-up to Saturday's 41-31 victory over Argentina.
And although Bennett was the only newcomer to the side, the 21-year-old hinted that former coaches might have taken a wrong turning in trying to change the way Scottish teams have played in recent years.
"In the squad, there has been a sort of realisation that we were going away from the Scottish way," said the Glasgow midfielder. "We've tried to bring that back, looking at our roots and the heritage of our game. We're bringing back that fire that was maybe slightly lacking before. Vern has fuelled that, trying to find the Scottish way of playing. We found that against Argentina.
"I'm sure he spoke to some past greats and used other Scots to give him a helping hand. I think they've been significant conversations. It's all about Scotland - what traits to Scottish people have, how can we play off that?"
Bennett's first touch on Saturday was a knock-on, but he said that he had not been particularly anxious as his first international appearance loomed. "I had a wee tear in my eye singing the anthem. It's a big occasion for everyone involved," he said.
"But I was calm, to a certain extent. As calm as you can be for a first cap. You can't change what you do or you'll make mistakes; I managed to keep myself semi-calm."
Bennett would almost certainly have scored a first-half try had Jonny Gray slipped him a pass as he raced up in support of the lock, but the Glasgow man was generally satisfied with how things had gone.
"I feel ready to play for Scotland now and it was great to play in a brilliant win, the most points we've scored against Argentina in the professional era," Bennett explained.
"The pass was one that Jonny probably should have given. I've been winding him up about it. It was a two-on-one that we should have executed. But we made a lot of good line breaks - and the most important thing is that we converted a lot of them."
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