Scotland boss Andy Robinson has been set a lofty goal by Mark Dodson © Getty Images

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Mark Dodson, the newly-appointed chief executive of the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU), has set the national team the lofty goal of clinching the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Having succeeded Gordon McKie in September, Dodson has recently canvassed opinion at grassroots level in order to formulate a long-term strategy for the game in Scotland.

The report will be published following the forthcoming Six Nations, but the goals set - both at domestic and international level - will not be easily achievable. Scotland boss Andy Robinson oversaw a disappointing World Cup campaign in 2011, when his side slumped to a Pool stage exit.

"What's the point of coming third? Why would we sit here in 2011 and say: 'Eh, we'll come joint eighth in the World Cup'. That's not what we're about. You've got to plan to win," Dodson told The Scotsman.

"We might fail against that target but we are going to plan to win and what we'll try to do is build a journey with milestones that show we are improving over a period of time to that target.

"That might come back to haunt me or, after two years, you say 'that's just impossible'. But the truth is that we have to set out a roadmap that says Scotland are going to improve in the Six Nations and improve at world level. Our pro clubs are going to improve in the RaboDirect and get through to the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup, not as a surprise but as an expectation. And we need to win silverware at club and international level."

Dodson also admitted that the SRU may entertain the idea of selling the naming rights to Murrayfield in the future, with the current financial climate a continuing threat to the sport.

"We have inventory here that we've never used or put out there," he said. "One of the things we're looking at in the first quarter of next year is to look at our inventory across the piece, both at club level and international level, attaching values to that and seeing what it is we want to sell. We might not sell the naming rights to Murrayfield, but we may. Everything is possible."