SCOTLAND are aiming to record six Test wins on the spin this afternoon for only the third time ever – and former winger Tony Stanger believes the team spirit within the current international squad mirrors the camaraderie that fuelled the successful team that he was a part of back in 1989/90.
Scotland's first sixmatch run came in 1925. They saw off France, Wales, Ireland and England before backing that up with triumphs over France again and Wales again in 1926.
Fast forward a few years and towards the tail end of 1989 the team defeated Fiji and Romania before putting together a Five Nations Grand Slam early in 1990 to clock up six victories once again.
Either side of lockdown and the subsequent phases the current Scotland squad have defeated Italy, France, Georgia, Wales
“When I watch the curand Italy and could make it six wins in a row against France in the Autumn Nations Cup at Murrayfield today.
During the positive run of 1989/90 Stanger, now 52, won his first six caps for his country.
He went on to win 52, but remembers those first six fondly which is unsurprising given he scored two tries against Fiji on debut, three against Romania a few weeks later and grabbed the Grand Slam winner against England.
“I was just coming into the national team set-up at that time so I wasn't really thinking about winning sequences, I was just trying to do my best in every game,” he said.
“The games against Fiji and Romania were good warm-ups for us ahead of the 1990 Five Nations and one of the keys to us doing well was our team spirit.
“The older and younger players seemed to work well together and everyone was comfortable and knew their roles in that team. rent Scotland squad I sense a similar spirit among the group which I think Gregor Townsend and Stuart Hogg have worked hard on.
“They have a strong core to the team and the forwards have really been playing well and when you have a pack on the front foot it really helps the backs get into their stride.
“It will be a big test against a French side who have lots of attacking threats, but Scotland certainly have it in them to win.”
