Room for improvement but Scotland heading in right direction

After the South Africa game, Rassie Erasmus said Scotland were a top-three nation in the world, presumably behind his own side and France. With Rassie you never know what sort of agenda might lie behind his public comments - there's usually something - but it was an eyebrow-raiser nonetheless.In the wake of Fiji, Schoeman - two tries this summer - went down a similar road when asked if he felt Scotland were closing the gap on the world's best sides. "No, I don't feel we're closing the gap," he added. "I feel we are a top-three, top-five team in the world. We've proven that - Argentina away, France, England, we play [and beat] the top dogs."South Africa, Ireland, All Blacks, we haven't had too much love there. That's maybe the games we want to target, to go against the best. Just to go full toe-to-toe with them for a full 80-minute performance."Top three is a big stretch, but there are moments in games when you think Scotland have it within them to lay the ghosts of Ireland and New Zealand to rest. They'll get a crack at the Kiwis in the autumn and will play Ireland in the spring, both at Murrayfield. As much as the Nations Championship has been a try-laden fun-fest, the real battle and barometer of progress remains the Six Nations. Scotland are trending in the right direction but summer and autumn have always been an unreliable guide to their true worth. Enjoy the quality of some of their rugby over the last three weeks, but put it in context, too. The Six Nations and World Cup remain where it's at.Time was, and it wasn't that long ago, when the names Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe were nailed-on picks. Three Lions, three wonderfully talented players in different ways, three prodigious try-scorers.Graham and Van der Merwe have been bypassed by Kyle Steyn, Dobie and Kyle Rowe, which would have seemed an outlandish prospect a year ago. As it stands Rowe deserves to be in the team, on the wing or at 15 - even if it means Kinghorn misses out, as good as he is. The Toulouse man was given the summer off.He'll return in the autumn with fire in his belly, no doubt. All of this is exactly what Townsend wants and needs. Competition for places is the lifeblood of any high-achieving squad.Huw Jones, one of the greatest Scottish players in history, is in this space as well. Rory Hutchinson has slotted in seamlessly with Tuipulotu, while Stafford McDowall is in there fighting too. Jones, a three-Test Lion last summer, is a forgotten man bound for France. Only a fool would write him off, but having him on the periphery is a sign of Townsend's options these days.The wins against France, England and Argentina and the excellent performance against the Boks show Scotland are inching forward, but the final bit of the journey from entertainers to consistent winners is the hardest part.Schoeman spoke about the loss to South Africa and referenced some of the things the Boks did that day. "I just think they put it in another gear and they found more energy and more hustle and that's what we spoke about as a group," he said."When things get tough, you have to go for that third, fourth, fifth gear and then show some appetite to hustle back when there's a line break."Just to kill the ball and slow things up to get settled again. So we've learned a lot, we see the tour as a success. It's really exciting for Scottish rugby and we have massive autumn games ahead, so we're excited."He's been in this movie before, of course. Everybody has. The buzz is knowing Scotland are adding depth and improving, as well as not knowing what it all means further down the line.