Scotland number eight David Denton hopes Andy Robinson is allowed to continue to work with an emerging pool of talent, despite failing to win a single game in the 2012 Six Nations.

A 13-6 defeat to Italy on Saturday ensured Scotland picked up this year’s wooden spoon, and left Robinson with just two wins from 15 championship matches.

Denton though is convinced the team are going in the right direction under the English coach and says there are plenty grounds for optimism.

"It's been a disappointing tournament for us and you could see that in the boys," Denton said. "We've put everything in, but we're going to be judged on results.

"We've got a lot of belief in ourselves. This has been the steepest learning curve I've ever experienced in my life and I think a lot of the other younger boys would say that.

"There's no doubt the talent that we have and we know we can take it forward.

"We all hope he'll stay. I think we can build something special under him, with the group we've got. I think we can be a force to be reckoned with."

Denton’s team-mate, experienced scrum-half Mike Blair, agrees enough was shown throughout the tournament that Scotland can turn things around under Robinson.

The 81-times capped player though concedes their performance in Rome was not up to scratch.

"We've seen positive things," he said. "We've got building blocks to work with, but this [against Italy] wasn't good enough.

"We don't turn up every week to lose. We turn up with a lot of spirit, a lot of talent and we need to trust that, keep working at it and look for that breakthrough."