GLASGOW Warriors winger Sean Lamont has been part of so many different Scotland sides in the years since he made his Test debut - but he is convinced that this one is the best by some way.

The 34-year-old is two away from completing his century of caps, and has no intention of quitting international rugby anytime soon, as long as he continues to be enthused by the quality and commitment of his team-mates.

“This is the best Scotland squad I’ve been in - bar none,” Lamont said. “There are a few reasons for that. It’s because of the quality of the players we have, and the depth we have, and how close we are as a squad.

“I’m not just saying that because it’s the right thing to say, it’s because I genuinely feel that. ’s a really great place to be with the talent we have in the squad at the moment.

“It makes me want to stay for even longer - that’s why I’m pushing so hard to stick around. It’s a brilliant place to be, it’s so much fun and gives me so much enjoyment. That’s a huge driving factor for myself.”

Lamont, who returned to Glasgow in 2012 after three seasons in Wales with the Scarlets, was part of the Scotland team that beat South Africa in 2006 and came close again two years ago. Having seen them lose to Japan at this Rugby World Cup, he knows the Springboks are beatable - but also accepts they have learned a lot from that defeat and will not make the same mistakes again.

“Top teams don’t do that. It’s the old wounded-animal scenario. Every team has a blip and they seem to have recovered well.

“We know what will be coming at us - they’ll be physical and will try and bully us. You look at the Japan and USA games: both were physical games.

“South Africa are a physical team and if you match them physically it takes away a big part of their game. You saw that in the Japan game. But it’s not the only part of their game.

“We know the test that’s coming at us. We’ve done well in the last two games, but realistically speaking they were the easier of the four teams we were going to play.

“But take nothing away. The boys did well with a four-day turnaround, and the US and Japan are no slouches as they showed against us. Full credit to the guys who did the turnaround.

“We’re sitting 10 points from10, which is a good place to be. For Scotland to have qualified after three games would be something fantastic, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves.”

If named in the Scotland team today for Saturday’s match at St James’ Park in Newcastle, Lamont could then go on to win his 100th cap against Samoa a week later at the same ground. His next target would then be the record of 109 set by Chris Paterson between 1999 and 2011.

Scotland coach Vern Cotter faces two big decisions to make about that team: whether to select Finn Russell and John Hardie, or give them another week to recover from their injuries. Russell turned an ankle against Samoa, while Hardie was ruled out of that game after a head knock against Japan.