Scotland have an entire backline ensconced in the Lions camp currently so the national side’s Pacific tour offered those on the fringes a chance to stake a claim. Jamie Dobie certainly seized the opportunity with a stand-out performance in the 41-12 win over Samoa at Eden Park as the Scots bounced back from a sore defeat in Fiji. The Glasgow Warriors scrum-half was particularly impressive during the first-half in Auckland, helping dictate the tempo as Scotland built a 22-0 lead. Dobie linked well with Fergus Burke and the Saracens stand-off was another who burnished his credentials on tour. “I’ve really enjoyed spending time training and playing with Fergus,” said Dobie. “He’s a great talent, we’ve seen that at Saracens and when he was in during the Six Nations. He obviously had to wait for his first cap but I absolutely love playing with him. “He’s a brave man - you saw that last week with the amount of defence he had to put in against Fiji. That’s inspiring for the players around him and I’m absolutely delighted to have built that [partnership] with him over this campaign.” Long term, Burke and Dobie face formidable obstacles in the shape of Finn Russell and Ben White as they seek more game-time with Scotland but both have shown their worth on the Test stage. Dobie has had to be patient. He was first capped in 2021 when he came off the bench in the autumn win over Tonga but it was only in last week’s match against Fiji that he was given the chance to start an international in his preferred number nine role. Ten of his 14 caps have been won as a replacement and his first two starts for Scotland came on the wing during last summer’s tour against Canada and Chile, games in which he also scored his first international tries. Dobie is becoming as adept out wide as he is at scrum-half and such versatility makes him a coach’s dream. The Inverness-born 24-year-old is too modest to talk up his own credentials but he was gratified to be picked at scrum-half in back-to-back games. “Eden Park is such a cool place to play, so I was delighted to be able to start, especially after last week,” he said. “I’ll not say too much about my own performance, but I thought as a team we were excellent. I obviously had a couple of moments where I was happy with the decisions I made. “That was the main thing for me - to take the opportunity that I had been given. I think everyone was keen that way, especially with it being the last game of the tour and with some important games to look forward to in the autumn. Everyone was keen to put their best foot forward. That was my focus, to get the team playing as well as possible, and I’m happy with the role I played.” He was moved to the wing for the second half against Samoa as Kyle Steyn sustained a hand injury that forced him off and Dobie adapted with customary calm. “It was sprung on me a little bit, right at the end of half-time,” he said. “We’ve spoken many times about me being able to cover that [position] as well, and I guess that’s the beauty of being able to do that - the coaches can make decisions like that. It was nice to get a bit more freedom out there.” The tour as a whole was a mixed bag for Scotland who impressed in winning their opener against the Māori All Blacks but were distinctly second best in the 29-14 defeat by Fiji in Suva, the game Gregor Townsend had earmarked as the key match. They at least ended on a winning note and Dobie hopes now hopes to used the tour to further enhance his international chances in the autumn when USA, New Zealand, Argentina and Tonga come to Murrayfield. “It’s been massively beneficial,” he said. “The Fiji result and performance obviously wasn’t what anyone was after, and there’s obviously been talk about what that means. But being able to build with the squad we’ve got out here has been great, and it was a great way to finish it beating Samoa. “We’ve got some big games in November to look forward to back at Murrayfield, and that’s what our focus will turn to. “Off the field, it’s been immense in terms of the connections and the cultural aspect. They absolutely love rugby in New Zealand and Fiji, and we’ve been able to see with the Maori and Fijian cultures, how much it means to the players to represent them. It’s something we’ll take home with us to inspire us.”