"I think they will need to rely on their bigger players now - and they need to step up even more. You look at someone like Finn Russell, Blair Kinghorn has been playing over in France, and I think they'll really be looking to them now to really shine."

Hastings believes "we can still be very positive" going into the Six Nations.

"There's a tiny bit more pressure on the depth of the squad, but boys have been playing brilliantly for their clubs, some of the best form I've seen," he said.

A home game against the Italians is viewed by some as the perfect game to open the championship for Scotland, but after defeat in Rome in last season's Six Nations - and having been taken to the wire by the Azzurri in victory in the 2023 championship - Hastings says nobody in the Scotland camp will be looking past the threat Italy pose.

"It's funny, even some of my mates from school, they all kind of have that mindset like, 'we're going to smash Italy', but it's not a thing [within the camp]," Hastings said.