Former captain Stuart McInally says the squad "now being on the same page" has led to Scotland having the best defensive record in the Six Nations.

After narrow defeats by Ireland and England, Scotland put 17 points on Italy without reply and restricted France to two tries in Sunday's 28-17 home win for Gregor Townsend's side.

France had been going for the Grand Slam before losing in Edinburgh.

"Our system now is very straightforward," said the hooker, 29.

"Everyone is now on the same page of exactly what we are doing."

With new defence specialist Steve Tandy joining the set-up in January, Scotland have conceded only 49 points and four tries in four tournament fixtures.

Against the same four opponents last season, Scotland shipped 15 tries.

"We still have our focus on attack and Gregor loves to attack - we won't be substituting any of our attack training for defence training - but we just seemed to be a bit more switched on to what we are doing," McInally added.

The Edinburgh forward said the try he scored against France "meant a lot" to him and is excited about Scotland's final tournament fixture away to Wales on Saturday.

It is the only championship match taking place after coronavirus caused the postponement of France v Ireland and Italy v England.

"We're in a great place, we're confident and we're going to go down there and put our best foot forward," added McInally.

"We know how dangerous they can be but we've got a great opportunity. I feel like we're playing good rugby - first and foremost that's how we look at it. Results are extremely important and we're very aware of that but we've been more pleased with how we're playing.

"I feel our biggest step forward has been in defence, we're making it difficult for teams to score. So we need to make sure we keep to that standard against Wales."