Sean Maitland says Scotland’s comprehensive win over Italy can act as a springboard to further success.
The New Zealand-born wing helped his adopted country bounce back from four straight defeats with a 34-10 victory at Murrayfield.
Scotland entered the Round 2 encounter under enormous pressure given their heavy defeat to England and an embarrassing reverse against Tonga in November but they responded in fine fashion with a four-try win against an Italian outfit who had shocked the French six days earlier.
And Maitland, who made his Test debut at Twickenham having only moved to Glasgow from the Crusaders late last year, insists the squad went some way to proving their doubters wrong on Saturday.
"It's just the beginning for us, there is definitely a lot more potential to unleash," said Maitland, who represented New Zealand at U19 and U20 level.
"The boys in the changing room were over the moon. We showed what we can do as a team.
"We had a lot of things to prove as a team and, thankfully, we were given another chance to put on the jersey this week and repaid the coaches.
"It was time for action. We had talked a lot, now we have delivered."
And while it was the Scottish pack who set the platform for victory with an abrasive display up front, it was the backline who stole the headlines as all four scores came from numbers 11-15.
Centres Matt Scott and Sean Lamont, wing Tim Visser and full back Stuart Hogg all crossed in Scotland’s first tournament win in two years as they made a mockery of Scotland’s reputation as a low scoring, forward-orientated outfit.
"There is a lot of potential in the backline and it showed we can score tries from anywhere," added Maitland after he set up Matt Scott for his side’s second try.
"Matt ran a beautiful line outside me and I managed to find him and he finished well.
"I knew Test rugby was going to be a higher level. It's been a wonderful experience so far. I didn't have many opportunities, but when I got my hands on the ball I had a go and tested the defensive line.
"We have got to take a lot of confidence out of that. We have got two more home games in a row and that will be massive for us. Murrayfield was awesome. It was an awesome atmosphere to be part of.
"The last week of training was really good, the boys were on fire and took that into the game. We will just keep building."
