Brown wants further improvements this autumn

Back row Brown led Scotland to a third-place finish in this year’s RBS 6 Nations before guiding the side at a quadrangular tournament in Durban this summer, which also featured Samoa, Italy and the Springboks.

Brown injured his ankle after just 40 minutes of the opening Test – a defeat to Samoa – but Scotland responded with a brave 30-17 defeat to South Africa before edging past Italy in the third-place play-off.

But with autumn clashes against Japan, South Africa and Australia on the horizon, Brown is eager for Scotland to continue their recent progress.

“I think that it was a big success in that a lot of guys came in for their first caps,” Brown told the Scotsman. “We finished third in the Six Nations last year and I’m desperate that we keep on building.

“I’ve spoken to many people who are hugely impressed by the way we’re going, but I’m quite cautious and I just want us to keep improving.

“We can take confidence from the Test against South Africa, even though we lost it in the end. It proved again that when we’re on our game we can challenge any team in the world, so it’s about making sure that we are on our game in every Test match we play.

“That’s the challenge. We have three tough games in the autumn starting with Japan, who beat Wales in the summer.

“Granted it wasn’t the full-strength Welsh team but it was still a very strong side, so I’m focused on just making sure that when we go out to play we really nail that level of intensity.

“I played in the win over South Africa here last time, and they are always a tough side, but we showed in the summer that we can stand up to them so it’s about making sure that we can bring that physical intensity every time that we play.

“That’s what I’m looking for. If we get our skill level up there and we’re physical and work hard we can put all three sides under pressure and be successful. And that has to be the focus for every Scottish player, wherever they’re playing, over the next couple of months.”

Brown wants further improvements this autumn