Scotland scored four tries en route to their first win of the 2022 Autumn Nations Series in a hard-fought 28-12 victory against Fiji at an anxious BT Murrayfield.
The Pacific Islanders led for much of the first half thanks to tries from Seta Tuicuvu and Ratu Leone Rotuisolia, following George Turner’s early score for the hosts, and threatened to add to their tally as Scotland continued to struggle with ill-discipline.
However, Adam Hastings’ composed finish eased the tension and put the hosts 14-12 ahead on the stroke of half-time, before Duhan van der Merwe provided some much-needed breathing space nine minutes after the break.
Ben White’s late try cemented the result on the day former head coach Vern Cotter returned to BT Murrayfield.
FIJI GO TOE-TO-TOE WITH SCOTLAND
Scotland arrived with a point to prove after their gut-wrenching defeat to Australia last weekend and they started quickly at an expectant BT Murrayfield.
Rotuisolia was sin-binned just 90 seconds into his Fiji debut for obstruction and Scotland took four minutes to take advantage, as Turner barrelled over from the back of a maul.
Fiji had a chance to cut their gap from the tee after Cam Redpath strayed offside but Tuicuvu tugged his kick wide – however the winger made amends with a fine finish in the corner for Fiji’s first try of the game following a flowing move.
A high penalty count was partly to blame for Scotland’s defeat to Australia and they were guilty again of poor discipline.
Six penalties were conceded in the first 22 minutes, handing Fiji a platform from which to attack. And they silenced BT Murrayfield by taking the lead midway through the half.
A series of penalties in their own 22 allowed Fiji to push close to the line and eventually the pressure told, as Rotuisolia muscled over on a topsy-turvy day. To rub salt into the wound, Stuart Hogg was sin-binned as a result of Scotland’s consistent penalties.
Fortunately for the hosts, Fiji failed to add to their points tally while Hogg was off the field and they rebounded to take a half-time lead.
A huge scrum close to the line allowed Ali Price to pass to Hastings and the fly-half checked back inside his tackler to dot down under the posts.
SCOTLAND PULL CLEAR
Fiji had 63% territory in the first half and Scotland knew they had to change the flow of play in order to win.
They stretched their lead nine minutes into the second half, a well-constructed maul doing the damage before a Chris Harris pass found Van der Merwe on the wing to power over.
Ewan Ashman almost added a fourth try shortly after but was just held up, as Scotland grew in confidence, and they were soon a man to the good for a further 10 minutes when Vinaya Hambosi was sent to cool down after a dangerous tackle.
That left space for Scotland to exploit and they put the game beyond doubt late on, as replacement scrum-half White danced through a gaping hole from a couple of metres out.
Scotland finished with 14 players after Darcy Graham picked up the game’s fourth yellow card for disrupting a quick penalty, and know they must sharpen up if they are to stand a chance against New Zealand next weekend.
