Chris Paterson admits Scotland are desperate to end the try drought which has seen them cross the whitewash only once in this season's Six Nations campaign and just twice in Scotland's last eight outings against top-level international opposition.
Despite the problems Scotland have had in developing a cutting edge with the ball in hand, they go into Saturday's encounter with Italy in Rome in buoyant mood after an uplifting victory over England last weekend.
That 15-9 scoreline was largely thanks to four successful penalties from Paterson. He has now gone nine games without missing a shot at goal, during which time he has sent 30 consecutive kicks sailing over the bar.
But the 29-year-old playmaker says that Scotland cannot afford to become too reliant on his trusty right boot.
"There is a real desperation in the squad to score tries," said Paterson.
"Of course, confidence takes a hit when you've only scored one in this Six Nations, and it is frustrating, but it's not through lack of effort.
"Last week was an exception because of the conditions - but in big internationals I believe you are going to have to score tries to win," he said.
"If you go up against a top side you are going to have to score 15 to 20 points to win, and you need to score tries to do that.
"The good teams have good attacks in international rugby. If you look at Australia, France and Wales then you see that they have great attacking players who score tries, and no matter how good your defence is the majority of the time it will be broken down and tries will be scored when you play against these teams."
Paterson believes Saturday's visit to Italy can be the starting point for a new brand of Scottish rugby to rear its head but concedes it will not be easy.
"I think our best opportunity against Italy this weekend is to play a quick, open game. Sometimes when you get drawn into an arm wrestle, especially in Italy; it is a hard place to go and dominate.
"It will be a fiery atmosphere, especially at the start, so we have to keep the ball and try to play some really good rugby, because if they have control of the ball they are very good at keeping it.
Paterson also thinks that the Scotland team should be looking to offer more in attack because they have an obligation to help improve the stature of the game in their country.
"We've got a duty to win, but we've got a duty to entertain as well," he explained.
"If you want to compete with other professional sports in the world then I think you've got to entertain the people watching. We want to help grow and develop the sport.
"Of course Saturday was entertaining, but that was a one-off. I've looked at the game again and, to be honest, if you weren't Scottish or English then you would be pretty bored watching it."
Teams:
Italy: Not yet named
Scotland: H Southwell (Edinburgh); S Danielli (Ulster), S Webster (Edinburgh), G Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), N Walker (Ospreys); C Paterson (Gloucester), M Blair (Edinburgh, capt); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), F Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), E Murray (Northampton), N Hines (Perpignan), S MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), A Strokosch (Gloucester), S Taylor (Stade Francais), A Hogg (Edinburgh).
Replacements: S Lawson (Sale), A Dickinson (Gloucester), C Smith (Edinburgh), J White (Sale), K Brown (Glasgow Warriors), R Lawson (Gloucester), D Parks (Glasgow Warriors).
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