The Scots were whitewashed in last seasons RBS 6 Nations but in the summer tour Down Under Williams team showed encouraging signs, especially in the 38-3 win over Samoa plus gutsy displays in their two Test defeats against Australia.

The 28-year-old Edinburgh Rugby captain insists the Scots are on the brink living with the big boys again.

He said: The next step is to start winning games. We try not to talk about winning games but weve got the squad now to do it.

Its about stepping up and saying, I dont want to be beaten any more. Weve got the players and weve got the game plan in the defence which is good.

I think the next stage now for us is to believe we can start putting the best teams in the world away if we can play the way we want to play.

We showed it against Australia, we just lost our composure at times and I think if the senior players step up and take a bit of responsibility, calm things down in crucial areas or hype them up when needed, then we have a good chance of beating anyone in the world.

Murray believes the recent tour was beneficial for team spirit and organisation but he admitted it was important the players continue to improve next season.

He said: We learned a lot from the tour. A lot of guys came out of their shells and maybe having the squad together for a while helped us relax.

It was frustrating that we lost our composure at crucial times but I think we took massive steps forward.

We started slowly in the RBS 6 Nations and when we played Wales we were absolutely terrible but now were starting to learn the systems and were making massive steps forward."