Cairns started the RBS 6 Nations in the side when he was selected alongside Graeme Morrison in the centre against Wales.

But he paid the price for Scotland's apathetic showing against the reigning Grand Slam champions at Murrayfield and was dropped for the second-round match in Paris.

Max Evans, poised to sign a new contract with Glasgow, took his place in the midfield and he played well enough to keep his place for the victory over Italy 'A' last weekend.

But Cairns is hoping to build on a try-scoring performance against the Azzurri at McDiarmid Park last Friday on the back of his score at Munster the previous weekend when he faces Scarlets this weekend.

He said: “These things tend to come as a run and hopefully I can keep that going into the Scarlets game.

“The effort against Italy was a good try and it was one of the only times in the game that we successfully went through from first phase play. I made a few silly decisions, but I felt it was a performance which was heading in the right direction.”