SCOTLAND captain Greig Laidlaw has confirmed that he wants to carry on playing for his country all the way up to the next Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019.

The scrum-half, who turned 31 last month, said he might eventually decide the time was right to call it a day from national duty - unlike Scotland team-mate Sean Lamont, who has said he will never retire. But he insisted that he felt good physically, and was enthusiastic about being a part of the current squad.

“I feel all right at the moment,” Laidlaw said yesterday. “I’m enjoying my rugby and I’m loving playing in this team.

“With Finn [Russell, the Glasgow Warriors stand-off] outside and some of the young forwards coming through, I think it’s brilliant. And you need a bit of experience in there and I like to think I give that. Touch wood I’ve steered clear of many injuries, and I want to stay in this jersey as long as I can.”

The No 9 revealed last week that during contract negotiations with Clermont Auvergne, the French club he will join from Gloucester next summer, he had insisted on being allowed to continue his international career. He has matured a lot as a leader on the field since being given the captaincy, he has improved his game since moving from Edinburgh to Gloucester in the summer of 2014, and is moving to France at the end of the current season with the aim of continuing to develop as a player.

He admitted, however, that he did not necessarily see himself in the same category as 35-year-old Lamont, the Glasgow Warriors winger who has played for Scotland more than 100 times and said he wants to keep adding to that total for as long as possible. “I don’t know about that,” Laidlaw said when asked if he took the same approach. “At one point I think it would be good to step away. When the time comes we’ll see, but I’m not going anywhere at the minute.”

Laidlaw won his 54th cap in the 23-22 defeat by Australia at the weekend, and is expected to make it 55 on Saturday, when Scotland play Argentina at Murrayfield in the second of their three Autumn Test. The third Autumn Test is on Saturday 26 at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, when Georgia are the opposition.