Joe Ansbro admitted he could switch from being hero to zero in a matter of days as the build up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup - in New Zealand - intensified.

The 25-year-old Scotland centre sprinted in for the late try that secured a late 10-6 win over a largely second choice Ireland side in the tournament warm-up encounter at Murrayfield.

But Ansbro insisted the score did not make him a certainty to be included in coach Andy Robinson's final squad that will fly to New Zealand.

The former Northampton Saints star, who has moved on to London Irish, said that there was enough strength in depth in the Scotland squad for him to miss out.

"There is pressure on every position at the moment and that includes the No.13 slot where I play," said Ansbro.

"I have been feeling that pressure and I will continue to feel it."

He added: "Just because I scored a try doesn't mean I will be an automatic choice and I know I have to keep on working and improving my game.

"I just hope I will also be involved in the match against Italy in Edinburgh later in the month."

Ansbro paid tribute to substitute Nick de Luca for providing the pass which paved the way for the touchdown.

"Nick and I have played alongside each other quite a bit now and I just knew what he was going to do - the feed to me was perfect and thankfully I was able to finish it off," he said.

Robinson was relieved and thrilled in equal measure after watching his men eventually shake off their rust.

He picked out Ansbro and Man of the Match Geoff Cross as his standouts.

The former England boss commented: "What a great finish! Joe took his try absolutely superbly and I think we got what we deserved.

"The score was all down to the speed of ball from the forwards.

"If you want to break down good defences you must have fast ball and the try underlined that.

"We had kept our shape in attack throughout the game and our scrum had been solid.

"Overall I am pretty pleased with the result and the performance at this stage in our build up to our departure for New Zealand."

Prop Cross also got high praise from Robinson, who is rebuilding his own reputation after a bruising spell as England coach.

"He is a very strong man and I was good to see him using that power to such good effect," said Robinson, who was England assistant coach when they won the 2003 World Cup.

"Another aspect which pleased me hugely was the fact that Ireland did not score a try against us - and didn't even look like scoring.

"But I am also the first to admit that we also need to improve our line-speed when we are in the opposition half.

"We need to step up and take our game forward when we face Italy here in a couple of weeks."

Ireland's stand-in captain Leo Cullen - replacing Brian O'Driscoll who is recovering from a neck injury - insisted there had been more positives than negatives for his team.

"We did a lot of good things, particularly in defence when Scotland were coming hard at us in the early stages," said Leinster's two-time winning European Cup lock.

"A lot of work still has to be done before the World Cup but we are pleased with the preparations so far."

AFP