The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Scotland urged to seal clean sweep
Flanker targets Fiji after helping tourists to victory over Australia
Having beaten Australia, Scotland’s next task is to complete a clean sweep of their summer tour by adding Fiji to their list of scalps.
So says Hamish Watson, the Scotland flanker fresh from scoring the winning try for Gregor Townsend’s side in Sydney.
“Fiji in Fiji is not going to be an easy test,” he said. “They have some amazing players.
“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 great for all the fans. An amazing victory, definitely my career highlight.”
It was also something of a personal triumph for Watson, who has broken into the Scotland side only in the last year.
He was one of Scotland’s main ballcarriers and helped lead the defensive effort before and after popping up on the shoulder of centre Duncan Taylor to run in the final score of the game.
“When we looked after the ball we scored tries,” he said. “That try was an amazing build-up by the boys. It was great play by Lee (Jones) and Duncy (Taylor), and pretty easy for me to finish it off.
“The game itself was probably 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. I think 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 Gregor 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.”
His starring performance puts a high-profile finish on Watson’s breakthrough year, in which his rise to the top has coincided with the team starting to flourish and he added: “It has been great for me personally and for Scottish rugby.
“If you look at what we did in the Six Nations, we got ourselves to fifth in the world and now we are building on it, beating Italy in tough conditions and Australia in Australia. It’s a good time for all the players and all the fans.”
Townsend yesterday reduced the Scotland touring party to a 30-man squad ahead of Saturday’s match with Fiji in Suva.
Centre Alex Dunbar and back row Magnus Bradbury have been allowed to begin their summer break a week early, while lock Lewis Carmichael has returned to complete his loan spell with Super Rugby side Western Force.