Scotland took a win from their opening test against Japan with Greig Laidlaw's boot instrumental in victory.

Laidlaw kicked 16 of Scotland's 26 points as Japan's discipline let them down in Toyota.

Japan took the lead through a try by Shota Horie but Scotland's reply came through a penalty try and a score by WP Nel. Laidlaw converted both and was accurate with four penalties.

"It was a game we made hard for ourselves, I think," Cotter told Scottish Rugby TV. "We probably dominated.

"We showed improvements in discipline. We gave away less penalties than them.

"I think we created opportunities to score and probably could have scored another couple of tries.

"Some of the things that came through our Six Nations are standing up still and there's still a lot of improvement to be done. But happy to get the win and looking to step up."

Scotland face Japan again in Tokyo next Saturday.