Gregor Townsend refused to answer questions about his future as Scotland head coach after his team’s disappointing 31-29 defeat to Italy in Rome.
The Scots’ loss was their first to Italy since 2015 and no other Six Nations side had lost in Rome since 2013.
It comes just months after a disappointing Rugby World Cup where they exited at the pool stage.
That has led to questions about Townsend’s future in the job – but he’s not having any of it.
“I’m not going to answer that question,” he said. “We’re disappointed with the result today, but we know this team have come on since the World Cup.
“We can look at this result and be really disappointed, but I’ve been really proud of how this team’s played during the championship so far.
“I believe in this group. You can look at results and say: ‘We’ve lost to Italy, this team aren’t going to take that next step’. Or you can look at where we’ve grown since the World Cup.
“I still believe the performances the players are putting in can show we can beat anybody. But if we take our eye off the ball for a period of time, we can be beaten. That’s what happened today.”
