Scotland narrowly beat Italy 18-16 in Sardinia on Friday night and John’s team silenced the raucous Italian crowd as Alex Blair won the game with ten minutes left.

John said: “We had to show some real character today and had to dig and fight for the victory.

“The crowd were very hostile, it was a bit of bear pit out there, but a brilliant atmosphere and a fantastic achievement for the boys.

“To score three tries away from home in those condition is an excellent achievement.

“They came to difficult environment, in difficult conditions and had to fight back from losing the lead - the momentum totally changed in the second-half and we had to win the game all over again as the crowd got louder and louder.

“We showed real composure to win this game.”