Matt Taylor wants Scotland to take their chance this autumn
Scotland defence coach Matt Taylor has urged the players to prove they belong with the world's best as they prepare for a challenging autumn.
Gregor Townsend's side are preparing to take on two of the top three sides in the world in their upcoming autumn internationals after a promising 2017 which has so far seen them pick up several major scalps.
After claiming three wins in the Six Nations earlier in the year, Scotland made positive strides on their summer tour in Townsend's first matches in charge, beating Australia and Italy before losing to Fiji.
The victory over Australia in Sydney in particular has raised expectations of the current side, and Taylor says the players are ready to test themselves against the very best, with New Zealand and the Wallabies due to visit Murrayfield over the next three weeks along with Samoa.
"We're going to be playing eight out of the nine top teams in the world over the next year, so we've got a great opportunity," he said.
"We need to make sure we can mark ourselves on where we are and I think on any given day when we play to our potential we can beat anyone.
"Conversely, if you don't play well you can be beaten by anyone so it's a great opportunity.
"We've certainly improved and are on a progression and keeping the momentum is really important.
"We're up against three really good sides. The best side in the world (New Zealand), Australia are in the top three, and Samoa are a very physical big team, so they will all present us with challenges.
"We're really excited by the challenges and know we'll have to be at our best to beat those three teams."
Townsend's squad selection raised a few eyebrows with the inclusion of 10 uncapped players in the 36, and just four based outside Scotland.
The head coach admitted he was looking to pick players on form, but the domestic make-up of the squad will bring its own benefits, according to Australia-born Taylor.
"If you look at the make-up of the squad, there's only four exiles," he said. "Most of the players are from Glasgow or Edinburgh so I think the cohesion is a big part of international rugby.
"We definitely picked on form but you can see those two clubs coming together to make up the majority of the team.
"You don't really have time to build the form, you have to arrive in form so that's what we've tried to do."