Tommy Seymour said yesterday that Scotland will only become a threat on the global stage once they stop being pleased just to have avoided a hammering against the game’s big guns.

Scotland put on a mightily brave display as they held New Zealand at bay for large chunks of Saturday’s autumn Test at Murrayfield before losing 24-16.

They even had a chance to put themselves on the brink of victory but saw skipper Greig Laidlaw pull his penalty wide before the all-conquering All Blacks stormed downfield to score the try which put the game out of sight.

The defeat means Scotland’s 109-year search for their first-ever win against the world champions goes on. But there were clear signs of progress in Vern Cotter’s young side as they came within 10 points of the southern hemisphere giants for the first time in 23 years.

However, Seymour — who scored his second intercept try in as many weeks to put the hosts 7-5 up after 12 minutes — insists if Scotland are just happy to come close, they will never find that elusive win.

The Glasgow wing — who also scored in the 41-31 win over Argentina last week — said: “We have to be pleased with the consistency levels we have shown over the last two weeks and we have to be pleased with the performance against New Zealand.

“We can’t keep saying we are pleased with ‘this much,’ because if you come up against a side and your only aim is to come up close, then it will never be good enough.

“We want to become a consistent threat and allow ourselves to be disappointed by the narrow margins, because once you do that you can really push on.”