Saturday 1 November 2014 12:16, UK
Scotland coach Steve McCormack is convinced there is a bright future for rugby league north of the border, whether or not his side clinch a place in the 2016 Four Nations Series.
The Bravehearts remain in pole position to win their first title in 20 years of existence as a team, despite going down 38-22 to France in their last fixture of the 2014 European Championship in Galashiels on Friday night.
France's inability to win by more than 18 points means they are out of contention and now only Ireland can prevent McCormack's men getting their hands on their first trophy.
However, the Irish need to win by more than 40 points in the final match of the tournament against John Kear’s Wales in Wrexham on Sunday afternoon.
"Hopefully Wales can do us a favour," McCormack said.
"Anything can happen but Wales are a very proud nation and I've been quite impressed by the way they have played.
"Against us they were tough, and they could have collapsed in the last 15 minutes against France in France but they didn't do - they came back and scored some points.
"And it's in Wales so John Kear will certainly have his team up for it."
To think we're still in with a chance of playing in the Four Nations and winning the European Championship is testament to everybody concerned with the nation.
Scotland put themselves in a strong position courtesy of handsome wins over Wales and Ireland, which came on the back of their impressive showings at the 2013 World Cup in which they lost to New Zealand in the quarter-finals.
The big prize awaiting them if Ireland fail to reach their target at the Racecourse Ground will be another tilt at the Kiwis, as well as England and Australia, in the next Four Nations to be played in the northern hemisphere.
"You can't really underestimate how far we've come in the last two years," McCormack said. "We had a fantastic World Cup, getting to the quarter-finals, and we've had eight debutants in this competition without any resources.
"To think we're still in with a chance of playing in the Four Nations and winning the European Championship is testament to everybody concerned with the nation.
"We've tried over the last couple of years to get a pathway so we've looked at our under-16s, our under-18s and our under-19s and some of them have played in this tournament.
"You look at people like Oscar Thomas and Sonny Esslemont - Harvey Burnett has played his first ever game against men on Friday night - and it shows we've got a good crop of players coming through. They've come in as lads and gone away from it as men. The future is very bright for Scotland."
