Hadden has made it a priority of his reign to get his team playing an open game and scoring plenty of tries.

He believed that such a goal may take some time to achieve, insisting that the modern game makes it harder to score due to an emphasis on defensive strategies.

But after watching his side collect some fine results in the autumn internationals he is convinced that his side can be a major force in this years Six Nations.

The loss of inspirational captain Jason White has presented a major blow to Haddens preparations but the coach refuses to be downhearted, instead looking to some highly positive recent results.

In November Scotland ran out 48-6 winners over Romania, scored four tries in a 34-22 victory over the Pacific Islands and crossed the line twice in a 15-44 defeat at the hands of Australia.

Even that loss had some positives, with a gutsy first-half performance seeing the sides go into the tunnel separated by just six points.

Scotland open their Six Nations campaign against England at Twickenham - a ground where they last won in 1983 - before hosting a dangerous Wales outfit.

With White on the sidelines, some are even questioning their ability to claim a top-three finish.

But Hadden believes the overall picture is healthy for Scottish rugby and is looking forward to seeing more attacking flair from his charges when the tournament gets under way on February 3.

There was enough evidence during November to show we are continuing to make progress, he said.

After the last Six Nations we knew we had to impose our set-piece game more, and we wanted to score more tries, although that was going to be difficult with the way defences are now.

But since the Six Nations last year, we have scored 23 tries in six matches, and I think we have ticked a lot of boxes.