Fiji find positives in defeat ahead of Irish exam
SCOTLAND overcame a rocky period in the first half to defeat Fiji 28-12 in their second Autumn Test at BT Murrayfield.
The hosts looked set for a smooth afternoon when George Turner’s early try put them ahead, but the visitors – under the charge of former Scotland head coach Vern Cotter – hit back with two tries of their own and temporarily had the Scots on the ropes.
Touchdowns either side of the interval from Adam Hastings and Duhan van der Merwe helped Gregor Townsend’s side regain the upper hand, however, before replacement Ben White added a further score in the closing stages.
Ahead of next weekend’s clash with Ireland, Cotter was positive about the performance, given the minimal preparation time with his squad.
‘We didn’t really want that score but our objective is to progress through this three-match series and head ourselves towards the World Cup. It’s very hard to win a
Test match with three yellow cards but I thought the guys defended well.
‘Those patches when we were down to 14 made it difficult for everybody but there was great effort from the boys. They didn’t give up.’
Italy flushed the bitter taste of its historic loss to Georgia by thrashing Ireland’s France 2023 pool opponents Samoa with a record 49-17 scoreline yesterday.
The Italians became the first tierone side to fall to the Georgians in July, and had to stew on the result for four months until facing the touring Samoans – the Pacific Nations Cup champions.
Italy frolicked in perfect afternoon conditions in front of a sellout crowd at cosy Stadio Plebiscito, scoring six tries, with doubles for wings Montanna Ioane and Pierre Bruno.
Meanwhile, holders New Zealand survived a last-minute missed penalty from France to book their place in the Women’s World Cup final against England with a 25-24 win in Auckland.