Scotland head coach Frank Hadden is confident he has the basis of a good squad for the next World Cup in New Zealand after the drawn Test series in Argentina.

Scotland bounced back from a 21-15 defeat in Rosario to win 26-14 in Buenos Aires and the former Edinburgh coach is looking to begin what he hopes will be a new era for the national side.

Hadden said: “I am optimistic for the future because of the number of young talented players we have.

“We don’t need to find any new player for the next World Cup. We have plenty of young players available.

“With the possible exception of Matt Mustchin, who got his first cap here at 32, everybody else is young enough to go to the World Cup.

“We also have a lot of good players who are not here who are also young enough. It is a good position to be in.”

The 53-year-old coach, who took over from Matt Williams in April 2005, admitted any progress would be tempered by the regular loss of players.

Hadden added: “We started our season on June 4 last year before the World Cup. This is our 13th month.

“In the World Cup we had the youngest team and we got younger in the Six Nations and we had an even younger one for this tour.

“That is good for the future but not so good for the present.

“In the Six Nations we had maybe 10 changes and now we have eight more. We played with 32 players in the Six Nations for five games, it is too many.”

Hadden admits it is also an issue that a number of Scotland internationals play their rugby outside the country.

He said: “That is a problem at the time of getting access to them in a preparation phase. English clubs take them away, give them back, take them away. It is a problem.
“We have got some good young players, but we need to get the chance for them to develop together.”