Scotland might have to beef up their efforts on the pest control front if they are to have a hope of securing a home win against either France or England in the forthcoming RBS 6 Nations championship.

In the wake of Saturday's 21-15 defeat by Australia, two leading Scottish players have said that the Murrayfield pitch - ravaged by an infestation of parasitic nematode worms for the past three months - had done them no favours as they tried (literally) to get a foothold in the game.

No.8 Dave Denton said that their plan to use the scrum, traditionally an area of weakness for Australia, as their primary attacking weapon was undermined by the state of the pitch. "Our scrum was dominant, but the pitch didn't let us do much with that," said the 23-year-old forward.

And Sean Lamont, who was denied a try at the end of Scotland's best move when he was hauled down a yard short of the line, revealed that the surface had been a factor in his failure to beat the last defender, man-of-the-match Israel Folau.

"I had the angle but you can't really step much on that pitch," said Lamont. "It's a nightmare. Of course the condition of the pitch makes a difference. You always want a firm footing. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do about it.

"You can see what's happening in the scrum. The boys felt we had a dominant scrum and were getting a good hit, but when it came to putting a drive on, the carpet rips up.

But it affects both teams, not just one side. It is disappointing, one of these unlucky things."

However, both players agreed that Scotland had put in a far better performance against the Wallabies than against South Africa six days earlier, when they were beaten 28-0.

Denton said: "We're not far away. This is a game we should have won. We were in there right until the very last minute. Last week was more disappointing because we were out of it very early on, but we have shown in recent games against South Africa and against Australia that we can beat them.

"We need to continue that, but we can't just keep doing the same thing every year. We need to learn from this. I don't want to be in the same position the next time we play them, saying the same things to you. We need to come out on the other side next time."

After a period of experimentation and squad rotation, Denton agreed that the Six Nations would put more focus on winning, but added that there will still be a need to blood new players and expand experience. "There has to be a balance, but from the chat we have had about the Six Nations it is going to be more about winning and getting our strongest team out.

"But this is a long-term plan for us, building up to the World Cup, and you can't not build the base of squad. In modern-day rugby, you can't just play the same team every week because if you do

that you will be in trouble when you get some injuries. Come the Six Nations, it will be more about form but we still need diversity

in the squad."

Worms apart, Lamont admitted that Scotland are still not in the same league as sides such as Australia when it comes to converting chances.

The winger said: "It was a better performance than last weekend but it was the same story - little inaccuracies and a couple of soft tries cost us.

"Our defence was pretty good 99% of the time, but that one per cent is the soft score. That's the difference when you play the top teams - they take their chances and take them well, and we've got to learn to take ours a bit better."