For Josh Bayliss and the other exiles on the summer tour, tomorrow’s match against Chile represents a last chance to impress Gregor Townsend this season.
Bayliss started the season by impressing the Scotland head coach in a try-scoring cameo off the bench in a World Cup warm-up match against Italy almost 12 months ago to the day.
His most recent outing in the navy blue jersey was also a try-scoring appearance, in the win over Canada to kick-start the tour.
After sitting out the win over USA, Bayliss is back at number eight in Santiago and hopes to impress once more before he and the other non-Scottish based players head home on Sunday.
World Rugby rules mean those who ply their trade outside of Scotland are not eligible to face Uruguay next weekend.
Bayliss said: “This is the last opportunity this season.
“It’s been a long season, both with the club and with Scotland, so it’s the last chance to go out there and to put everything together in one last performance would be nice - and then look forward to a couple of weeks off before going back into pre-season with Bath.
“Yeah, I think everyone’s looking forward to putting their best foot forward, especially us exiles.”
With Jack Dempsey and Matt Fagerson providing stern competition for the number eight jersey, Bayliss - who missed the World Cup with a thigh injury, and the Six Nations through concussion - knows he must take every chance he gets to impress.
"Representing your country and getting to pull this shirt on is an incredible honour,” he said.
“I’ve been in and out of squads over the past couple of years and it’s just great to get that opportunity to start two games on tour - it’s absolutely brilliant and I’m looking forward to the opportunity this weekend again.
“It’s a massive opportunity - there’s no getting away from that. I’m definitely relishing that and I want to enjoy it as well, because these opportunities don’t come round so often, and like I say, to pull on this jersey and represent Scotland is all I’ve ever wanted.
“Any chance I get to do that, I want to put my best foot forward, and if that gets me towards the autumn and Six Nations squads, then that’s brilliant. But I just want to do the best for the team, the best for myself, this weekend.”
Despite comfortable wins on the North American leg of the tour, Bayliss is taking nothing for granted against Los Condores tomorrow.
“I think Canada and the US were great teams,” said the Bath back-row forward, before suggesting it was Scotland’s fitness that saw them rack up big scores in both games.
“Towards the latter parts of the first and second halves in both games we showed our dominance, a lot through fitness.
“We pride ourselves on being an incredibly fit team and just being able to keep going, but both Canada and the US were very physical, very emotional, very driven to try and get the scalp of beating a tier one nation.
“Take nothing away from either the US or Canada, they definitely both came out firing. I put it down to our fitness that we managed to get that sort of comfortable winning margin, I think.”
The 26-year-old, who will make just his third start in the Chilean capital, said the heat of Washington DC did have an impact on the players in the build-up to the USA match and was pleased to be in a more familiar climate this week.
He described Chile as “a welcome change” after the heat of Ottawa and the US capital.
Bayliss continued: “It was pretty hot and humid and a few of us were struggling a little bit. It’s been brilliant this week.
“The setting is beautiful with the Andes in the background. I think a few guys are off on the gondola to go to the top of the hill. Hopefully they make it back in one piece and we’re good to go.”
Bayliss – and Scotland – will hope to avoid any disasters pre-match and to get through the 80 minutes with another win under their belts as the squad heads to Montevideo, and the Bath man jets off on holiday.
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