Image source, SNSImage caption, Jamie Dobie scored two tries against Fiji
ByTom EnglishBBC Scotland's chief sports writer- Published32 minutes ago
Nations Championship round three
Fiji (17) 17
Tries: Ikanivere, Ravutaumada, Canakaivata Con: Armstrong-Ravula
Scotland (7) 33
Tries: Dobie 2, Gray, Schoeman, Cummings Cons: Horne, Burke 3
Scotland won a hard-fought bonus-point victory against a reborn Fiji in a pulsating Nations Championship battle at Murrayfield.
Gregor Townsend's team finished an impressive autumn campaign with a thunderous second half featuring huge contributions from his bench.
Substitutes Pierre Schoeman and Scott Cummings both scored when coming on to the field. Another replacement, Jamie Dobie, scored twice.
Fiji had been destroyed by England last weekend but came to Murrayfield with a menace and brilliance that was painfully absent just seven days ago.
Jonny Gray might have opened the scoring, but Fiji controlled the scoreboard for the rest of a half during which they played sumptuously.
Hooker and captain Tevita Ikanivere, wing Selestino Ravutaumada and number eight Elia Canakaivata all scored in rapid order, the third one coming while openside Lekima Tagitagivalu was in the bin.
Scotland scored zero points in those 10 minutes, a return that reflected their pedestrian and predictable showing in that opening half.
Everything changed when Townsend started using his bench, Schoeman and Dobie, both scoring not long after appearing. Dobie added a second late on.
Sione Tuipulotu's addition to the fray also helped turn the tide against an increasingly jaded Fiji.
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Scotland had made 14 changes from the side that went so gallantly against South Africa last week, a team transformed in more ways than one.
The fire they showed in Pretoria evaporated in the first 40. Fiji dominated in an opening half during which they defended heroically and attacked sensationally.
They had a rare balance to their game - true to their DNA, yes, but not slaves to it. They had a power, a flair and a discipline that saw them outscore the Scots by three tries to one in the opening half.
Gray struck first after a fine line break by Ollie Smith, the outside centre wearing a special shirt in tribute to the late, great Scott Hastings who brought such distinction to that number 13.
When Gray blasted over from close range, a try that was converted by Horne, the feeling of a long day ahead for Fiji was unavoidable.
Instead, everything flipped. Fiji thundered downfield, set up a ruck and Ikanivere ran through to score without a Scottish hand being laid on him.
Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula missed the conversion, but that hardly knocked Fiji off their stride. Their second score was a peach, the magnificent Jiuta Wainiqolo blasted out of defence, eating up ground with his long stride, his incredible athleticism and prodigious power.
From there, they tore Scotland apart. Josua Tuisova made yards down the right and linked with his wing, Ravutaumada, who chipped ahead adroitly and ran on to gather and score.
Clinical and beautiful. The only upside for Scotland was that, for a second time, the conversion was missed.
Scotland were getting nothing out of their lineout maul in the face of Fiji's organisation and brute force. They weren't making inroads in midfield or out wide either.
The one bit of joy they had was when Tagitagivalu got binned for a head shot on Horne, but then Scotland failed to capitalise on their advantage.
For 10 minutes last weekend, they were 15 versus 14 against South Africa and didn't score. Here, they were 15 versus 14 and lost the sin-bin spell by 7-0.
The Scots had been sluggish, wiped out at the breakdown and out-muscled all over.
That third Fiji try, and the one that really left Murrayfield in stunned silence, started with Caleb Muntz kicking intelligently to Ravutaumada on the right wing.
Patience through the phases led to Canakaivata running in over from an unguarded ruck. The conversion was good this time; 17-7 Fiji.
At the break, the hope for Scotland was that Fiji - technically, the home team on the day - would run out of gas and that Scotland, as fit as any side out there, would come steaming back into it, especially with a loaded bench.
So it proved. Head coach Townsend sprang that bench and one of the new men struck early, Schoeman firing himself through Fijians to touch down. Burke knocked out for the conversion and Scotland were back in the game.
More than that, they were bossing it all of a sudden. Townsend's substitutes brought their performance alive.
Another one, Dobie, put them ahead after terrific work from yet another, Tuipulotu. Burke made it 21-17 with the boot and now Scotland had the game under control.
Big Cummings, massively impressive against the Boks last weekend, crashed over for the bonus-point try and Dobie, following excellence from Duhan van der Merwe and Josh Bayliss, went over just before the end to complete the comeback and put Scotland in rude health on the Nations Championship league table before the final stretch of games in the autumn.
'Positive campaign behind us' - Townsend
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend: "Fiji played really well, we knew they would. I felt they picked their strongest side today and it took a lot of work for us to break them down, but also it took a really good defensive performance.
"Fiji didn't really break us that often - in that final quarter the guys were outstanding. We'll take a few positives from that.
"The areas we need to work on is when we have all that possession and pressure, we have to get seven and 14 points and make it a bit easier for ourselves.
"We delivered against Argentina, we created a lot against the Boks and learned a lot from that game. We can go into the break now with a positive campaign behind us and a positive Six Nations as well."
Line-ups
Fiji: Armstrong-Ravula, Ravutaumada, Vakatawa, Tuisova, Wainiqolo, Muntz, Lomani, Mawi, Ikanivere, Doge, Nasilasila, Mayanavanua, Sowakula, Tagitagivalu, Canakaivata.
Replacements: Matavesi, Natave, Ravai, Vocevoce, Salawa, Wye, Rabitu, Rayasi.
Scotland: Jordan, Graham, O. Smith, McDowall, Van Der Merwe, Burke, Horne, Sutherland, Hiddleston, Rae, Gray, Williamson, Bayliss, Douglas, Brown.
Replacements: Stephen, Schoeman, Z Fagerson, Cummings, Bradbury, McConnell, Dobie, S Tuipulotu.
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
