LET’S MAKE IT CLEAN SWEEP
Fired-up Watson targets Fiji victory to end tour with three wins out of three
HAMISH WATSON last night insisted Scotland will forget about their stunning victory Down Under in a bid to add Fiji to their list of summer scalps.
The flanker is determined to ensure Gregor Townsend’s side end their three-game tour unbeaten after his winning try saw them beat Australia in their own backyard on Saturday.
Watson knows getting the better of Fiji in Suva in five days’ time will be a huge test – even after putting the Wallabies and Italy to the sword in Townsend’s first two games in charge.
That’s why he’s adamant minds will be firmly focused on the task in hand rather than still in Sydney where the Dark Blues lifted themselves back up to fifth in the world rankings after dropping down a place last week.
Watson said: “Fiji in Fiji is not going to be easy. They have some amazing players and away from home it will be very tough to beat them.
“We will enjoy the win against Australia but then put it to one side and concentrate on the Fiji game because they pose a lot of threats.
“The win over Australia was an amazing result. It is great for Scottish rugby and all the fans – an amazing victory, definitely my career highlight.
“In the Six Nations we got ourselves to fifth in the world and now are building on it, beating Italy in tough conditions and Australia away. It’s a good time for the players and fans.”
Watson, who has broken into the side only in the last year, was one of Scotland’s main ball carriers as they made it back-to-back wins over the Wallabies on Australian soil.
The Edinburgh flanker helped lead the defensive effort before and after popping up on the shoulder of centre Duncan Taylor for the final score.
He said: “When we looked after the ball we scored tries. That try was an amazing build-up by the boys.
“It was great play by Lee Jones and Duncy and pretty easy for me to finish it off. The game itself was a bit scrappy at times. We had a quick word immediately after it in the changing room but we will analyse it, come back together and speak about it.
“We left a few tries out there. Our defence was awesome but we could definitely have scored more tries.
“Sometimes we didn’t look after the ball as well as we should have.
“We are still pretty new to the systems – it’s only Townsend’s second game with the squad – and we will keep building. It’s good to have things to work on after a great win.
“When we held the ball the Aussies looked out on their feet at times.
“If we can just look after the ball a bit better and become more comfortable with the systems then that will all come together.”
Townsend trimmed his squad for the trip to Fiji with back-row Magnus Bradbury and centre Alex Dunbar beginning their summer break early while lock Lewis Carmichael returned to Australian loan club Western Force. ● Scotland made it a weekend double over the Wallabies as the Under-20s recorded their best finish at the World Championship.
Charlie Shiel ran in late on for a try converted by Connor Eastgate to seal fifth spot with a 24-17 victory in Georgia.