Scotland rugby's head coach Philip Doyle has said he expected a 'heavy defeat' against England in their Six Nations match.

The Red Roses' 53-0 victory over Scotland yesterday was a smaller margin than the 80-0 drubbing they received last year.

And Doyle said that he thinks his player have turned a corner and are improving despite the heavy loss.

Speaking to The Telegraph, he said: “This is a long term project, but I feel it’s something we’re definitely moving forward with. 

"To be honest with you, I thought it would be 50. What scoreline are you ever going to expect from an 80-0 drumming the year before? You’re never going to turn it into a win. I’m not happy - that’s the wrong word - but it’s what I expected.

“I’ve always said we’re closing the gap. That’s all we’ve ever wanted. It was an 80-0 drumming last year with no character. This year we got 53-0 with character. I’m going to take that going forward.”

The Scotland boss is aware there is a 'difference in class' between the teams due to the Red Roses being full-time and Scotland being part-time.

However, England head coach Simon Middleton played down the gap between the two teams.

He said: “When teams aren’t full-time and players aren’t full-time, that can escalate the score of a game very easily but the difference in skill level and the structures of the sides aren’t massively different.

“A lot of the Scotland girls are in the Tyrrells Premier 15s now and you can see that in terms of their individual development. Phil [Doyle] has only had them together for a while, but he’ll get them growing as a unit.”