Scotland hooker Ewan Ashman did his chances of becoming the successor to Japan-bound George Turner with a first-half hat-trick in the win over USA.
Twelve months ago, Ashman was battling just to make Scotland’s Rugby World Cup squad amid competition from Turner plus Stuart McInally, Fraser Brown and Dave Cherry.
A year on, the former Sale Shark is the only one left with McInally and Brown retired and Cherry out of favour with the national team.
Turner’s move to Kobe Steelers in Japan will likely mean he is unavailable for Scotland duty, and Ashman put his hand up to become the first-choice when South Africa and Australia come calling in the autumn with his try treble in Washington.
“I just have to keep putting my best foot forward,” the Edinburgh hooker said.
“George is a great player and we’ll definitely miss him around the camp. You saw in his performance in the final for Glasgow what he can do, and he’s been a seriously physical player for us here with Scotland too.
“But you’ve also seen the quality that has stepped up. Robbie Smith and Dylan [Richardson] have both done really well, and Paddy [Harrison] is waiting in the wings having been unbelievable in training.
“There are a lot of people trying to put their hands up at hooker, so you just have to try to play as well as you can every opportunity you get, and then it’s out of your hands.
“This is a quality group and we’re all learning from each other and bouncing off each other.”
Ashman is the most experienced of the four hookers on tour by some distance, with Richardson and Smith’s two caps some way behind the Edinburgh man’s tally of 18.
He said the new-look group has gelled well in the short time they have been together.
“You’d think we had been together a lot longer than we have been,” Ashman continued post-match at Audi Field.
“It’s only been a couple of weeks together but everyone is flying and everyone is playing well. They’ve been taking to all the new systems really easily.
“It can only be a good thing for the group to have these guys coming in.”
Ashman’s tries each came from dominant Scottish mauls and the hooker acknowledged he has his pack colleagues, and the work of forwards coach John Dalziel, to thank for getting him over the line.
“I think it was from a combined five metres if I’m lucky,” Ashman joked.
He added: “We’ve been working really hard at it. It hasn’t been the easiest place to do that kind of graft, with the heat and humidity - that really take it out of your legs.
“Credit to those boys and credit to JD [Dalziel]. He put us through it in the build-up to the game so it was good to get a few over on Friday night and see an end product to the hard work of the week.”
Despite a second comfortable win on tour, there was a sense of frustration from the Scotland camp that they were unable to post another big score.
Ashman said: “We could have won by more. It was a scrappy game, and that was down to not only their defence but the conditions. They were really horrible, obviously not what we’re used to at all.
"It’s good to play in those tough, hot, humid conditions but it definitely saps you a bit and it’s tough to look after the ball when it’s like a bar of soap.
“That will be a good learning for us and I’m glad the boys rose to the challenge and the occasion because it wasn’t easy out there and you definitely felt it in your legs coming out after half-time."
As Scotland head to South America to face Chile and Uruguay, starting with Los Cóndores in Santiago next Saturday, Toronto-born Ashman reflected on a special couple of weeks for him personally.
“We were at the Scottish embassy in Ottawa last week and all the other boys were saying, ‘he’s from Canada, talk to him!’
“But I made some good connections and it was nice to spend a day or two in Toronto.
“They were like, ‘take it easy on us this week but go hard on the USA!’ They’ll definitely be happy for me.
“I have a special connection there so it was nice to be back. It’s a place that will always have a special place in my heart, I’ll always have that connection to it, so it was nice to be back there.”
Ashman may sit out the clash with Chile to allow Richardson and Smith more time in the saddle, with neither available for the Uruguay clash as the match falls outside of World Rugby’s summer Test window.
He is likely to be involved in Montevideo alongside Edinburgh colleague Paddy Harrison and knows the importance of finishing the tour off with another two wins.
He concluded: “You have to be in every moment and that will bleed into the autumn.”
“You have to analyse every single action, because those are the tiny margins that you need to go on to face the South Africas of this world.”
Read the rules here