A dose of reality for Toony as his Terriers lose their bite in Fiji loss
GREGOR TOWNSEND was bitterly disappointed after seeing his dream of an unbeaten tour to launch his term in charge blown apart by the vibrant running and tackling of Fiji in Suva.
The Scots won the try count by three to two, but their discipline was poor and they were ripped apart by the brilliant handling of Leone Nakarawa as five penalties from Ben Volavola secured victory for the hosts.
Ironically, Townsend had plucked Nakawara from the Fijian sevens line-up while he was at Glasgow and turned him into one of the world’s great locks. It was a dose of reality for the coach after the defeat of Italy and stunning victory over Australia.
“We did not play as well as we have done on tour, but credit to Fiji,” said Townsend. “They played some outstanding rugby, particularly in the second half, and were tough to handle.
“For us to win Test matches, we have to play really well, as we showed against Australia.
“But we missed too many tackles and Fiji came alive when they broke those tackles.
“Also we have to look after the ball in our attack. Too many balls were lost in contact with the wet ball. I’m really disappointed.”
A catalogue of early errors from the Scots as they tried to run clear gave Fiji an attacking platform.
Volavola, who won last week’s game against Italy with a late drop goal, had missed a long-range penalty, but made no mistake with his second shot from straight in front.
But when Fiji lost prop Peni Ravai for collapsing a maul, Scotland took full advantage.
They set up a line-out maul and Ross Ford, winning a record 110th cap, claimed his third try of the summer tour.
The islanders retaliated. Nakarawa flicked the ball clear from a maul on the Scots 22, and Volavola’s cross kick was perfectly placed for Patrick Osborne to claim the ball and find flanker Peceli Yano to take the scoring pass.
Volavola missed the conversion but Scotland were trailing at the break.
It got worse after the break, with Volavola slotting a penalty for a sevenpoint lead.
After Fiji had failed to clear their lines, Ruaridh Jackson, now up at fly half, had an easy run-in for his first Test try.
His conversion levelled the scores, for a few minutes at least, until Volavola put Fiji back in front with a penalty.
Fijian joy was soon doubled when a piece of individual brilliance from Nakarawa saw him break through and offload to replacement scrum-half Henry Seniloli for a brilliant try that pushed the lead out to 10 points after Volavola’s conversion.
Scotland did fight back with Fraser Brown grounding at the back of a driving maul.
Again, however, their mistakes cost them as they handed the ball back to Fiji after the restart and any chance of a late revival was gone.