Is there 'entitlement' around Scotland or has Townsend misjudged criticism?

After a one-sided beating of a typically ill-disciplined Tonga at Murrayfield, Gregor Townsend was pitchside at Murrayfield delivering his verdict about the Autumn Nations campaign as a whole.

The Scotland head coach has had to field all manner of criticisms and questions in the wake of the final-quarter meltdown against Argentina one week ago, and has largely dealt with them in a cool, composed manner.

But Townsend clearly feels that the flak he has received - after his side let slip a golden opportunity to beat the All Blacks and a 21-0 lead against the Pumas - has been unfair.

"We've got to make sure what we're talking about here," Townsend said to BBC Sport Scotland after the 56-0 victory over the Tongans.

"I don't know if there's an entitlement around us beating the All Blacks and Argentina - these are top-quality teams. We have no right to beat any team.

"We have focused a lot on the last 20 minutes and that's something we have to improve on, but to look at it and go 'the other stuff isn't good and we have to do something different', I totally disagree."

'Autumn offers no forward momentum'

There has been a misunderstanding in some quarters, and seemingly from Townsend himself, about the nature of much of the criticism around the 33-24 defeat to Argentina.

"Entitlement" is not something that tends to be associated with followers of Scottish rugby, for the simple reason they have been given nothing to feel entitled about.

The frustration comes not from losing to an excellent Argentina side, but from seeing a team performing incredibly well – as Scotland did to carve out that 21-0 lead – only to nosedive beyond recognition. And seeing it happen again and again and again.

There is a weariness to the whole thing, and as much as Scotland did what they had to do against a physical Tonga side on Sunday, it was never going to erase the pain of the missed opportunities that came in the weeks before.

Two wins from four, against the United States and Tonga – two sides completely outgunned at rugby's top table – was never going to create the sense of forward momentum this side needed heading into the Six Nations.

The damage from those excruciating defeats to the All Blacks and the Pumas will take a bit of getting over, and captain Sione Tuipulotu was not entertaining any invitations to set his side any targets for the Six Nations.

"I'm kind of tired of sitting up here and promising what we're going to do," Tuipulotu said. "I think a big focus is getting into tip-top form going into that Six Nations.

"I'm not going to give you guys headlines about how we're promising this and promising that, just for you guys to create a headline and turn your back on us.

"We've got to regroup and we're the guys in the changing room that have got to ultimately get over the hump. That's the only thing I care about is what's said in the changing room and not what's said on the stage."

Tuipulotu is one of the game's great communicators, an unfailingly humble and polite man, and for him to come out as strongly as he did was not a side we have seen from him before.

But maybe that's what this Scottish side needs – a siege mentality. Maybe the "us against the world" mantra is something that can drive the team on towards the heights that they have so far been unable to get to.

Maybe that is wishful thinking, but what's clear is that Scotland will go into the Six Nations shed of the sort of expectation they have had to carry in recent seasons.

While Townsend's position continues to occupy much of the column inches and air-time, the man himself is certain in his belief that he can lead this team to the sort of success the fans crave.

"I've never been more convinced," he said. "The New Zealand game was one of the best performances we've seen.

"The 20 minutes against Argentina doesn't change what the team did the week before. Of course we want it to be perfect - we have to be better when the opposition have their moments.

"The game the players are putting out there is a game that can take us to success, whether that's Six Nations or beyond."