Jamie Dobie has defended the uncompetitive nature of Scotland’s summer tour so far and says he hopes to use the experience to establish himself as a squad regular.

Gregor Townsend’s men won their first two matches comfortably against Canada and then the United States and have now travelled south of the Equator for two final Tests against Chile and Uruguay.

Those challenges stand in stark contrast to their Six Nations rivals who are facing elite southern hemisphere opposition in their own summer outings, but Dobie believes it has still been a worthwhile exercise given many fringe figures – including himself – have been afforded the opportunity to gain vital international experience.

The Glasgow Warriors scrum-half said: “You can look at it both ways. Our tour is a great opportunity for the development of the group we’ve got. There are a lot of boys who are here for the first time and the opportunity to be involved in as many Tests as possible is massive.

"The scorelines may have been more one-sided than people would have liked, but there was still plenty that we could be doing better and that’s what we’ve focused on.

“One of the great benefits of a tour like this is spending a lot more time with the group. There’s a lot of boys with a bit less experience and not so familiar with each other, and on a tour like this you get to know everyone really well. 

“Ottawa was a good first place to start that off and then being in Washington there was the usual touristy stuff that you can get out and do, and I think the boys really enjoyed that. The first two weeks have been massive for developing that bond.”

Dobie has also taken the chance to double his own cap haul, making his third international appearance – and landing a first try – in the win over Canada and then adding a fourth off the bench in the victory over the United States.

The 23-year-old hopes to impress in the final two matches to enhance his prospects of remaining in Townsend’s plans for the autumn nations series and then next year’s Six Nations.

"The first bit is getting that exposure to Test rugby - I want to be pushing to be involved as much as possible, and I want to be pushing for selection in the autumn squad and then into a Six Nations,” he revealed. “I had two caps before this tour, pretty spread out, so being involved more regularly is definitely the goal for me.

“This was my fifth year at Glasgow which feels funny to say but I suppose the first couple of years flew by with the Covid pandemic in the middle. The last couple of seasons, and especially this season, feel like [a breakthrough]. I got an ankle injury in November which was a bit of a pain in terms of timing. I think it was literally just after Ali [Price] had moved across to Edinburgh and I was hoping to get a good run of games but I fractured my ankle.

“After recovering from that I was involved in every Glasgow game right up until the [URC] final and that was exactly what I wanted to be doing, being involved in as many matches as possible and in particular the big games and that’s what happened.

“It does feel that I’ve been able to make the next step and I suppose it’s been rewarded with some game time with Scotland as well.”

For many of the players in the squad, this was a season that began last May with the countdown to last year’s World Cup. Dobie, though, believes Warriors’ success in winning the URC has helped imbue the group with fresh impetus and energy.

“It has been a long season if you look back given it started with the World Cup pre-season at the end of last May,” he added. “But I think that the way the season ended with Glasgow on such a high, and you’ve got that momentum from winning the trophy, that it was actually great to come into this environment.

“If you can’t get up for playing for Scotland and enjoying that then you probably shouldn’t be here. I only see it as an honour being out here. Off the back of this I’ll be able to get a break for a few weeks. My goal for this season was to be out here so I’m definitely happy to have been involved for the last few weeks and now a couple more to come.”