Autumn Series: Scotland v Fiji match report: four-try Darcy Graham leads the charge in big home win

DAVID BARNES @ Murrayfield

DARCY GRAHAM bagged four tries in his first Test appearance since that defeat to Ireland which ended Scotland’s World Cup quest last October, taking his Test tally to 28 and briefly drawing level with his big partner-in-crime, Duhan van der Merwe, at the top of the nation’s all-time try-scoring table … before a late score edged the big South African winger back out on his own in top spot.

All in all, this was a fairly satisfying evening’s work for Gregor Townsend‘s men, who ran in eight tries in total. There was sticky periods either side of half-time, when Scotland struggled to dominate Fiji like they did at the start and the end, but they will still view this as a pretty decent warm-up for the arrival of the world champion Springboks next Sunday.

Scotland dominated the set-piece which gave them the platform they needed to run out as comfortable winners. They know they won’t have the same level of comfort there next weekend. South Africa will also not give away anywhere near as many penalties as the under-pressure Fijians did during the opening quarter, and Scotland in turn will end up in big trouble themselves if they give away as many penalties as they did in the 15 minutes before and after half-time.

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Graham dotted down twice before the break, and Scotland’s other scorers in the first half were full-back Kyle Rowe, who had to come off with a hamstring injury which has put his availability for for the South Africa game in doubt (a concern which is somewhat offset by Blair Kinghorn being available assuming he emerges unscathed from Toulouse’s trip to Bayonne tomorrow night) and Huw Jones with a 35-yard interception.

All four of those tries were scored in the first 21 minutes and it looked for a while like this could turn into a Fijian annihilation, but then Scotland lost their way and the visitors – who had played most of that opening period with 14-men due to a fifth minute yellow-card shown to Frank Lomani for a deliberate knock-on and 13th minute yellow-card for Apisalome Vota for a ruck offence following a warning from referee Craig Evans about the number of penalties being conceded – managed to tighten up their discipline and were able to turn it into some sort of contest.

The Pacific Islanders got off the mark with a try from full-back Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula, making some amends for the interception he had chucked for Jones’ try a few moments earlier, and it was then Scotland’s turn to play 10 minutes with 14 men when Ewan Ashman was sent to the cooler for not supporting his bodyweight in the contact area. It was the latest in a series of penalties conceded by the hosts, and it was little wonder that referee Evans lost patience.

14-man Scotland did manage to get their side of the scoreboard rolling again with an Adam Hastings penalty, but Fiji had the last word of the first half when Ratu Derenalagi bundled over from close range following another long period of pressure and a series of penalties conceded by Scotland near their own line.

Fiji struck again nine minutes into the second period when a clever move at the front of the line-out sent hooker and captain Tevita Ikanivere on an unchallenged charge up the tramlines, and Armstrong-Ravula slotted the extras.

Scotland responded with Graham bouncing out of contact and hotfooting past two more tacklers for his hat-trick score, then the winger snatched try number four – his 28th in 40 caps – just after the hour mark, coming onto a short ball like a thunderbolt and blasting over the line. It took a while for the winger to get up after that score, and he was soon taken off for an HIA which he didn’t pass. An anxious wait is now on the cards to see if he will pass the required tests early enough next week to be in the selection mix for the South Africa game.

In between those two scores, Tom Jordan – impressive off the bench to replace Rowe at full-back – did a fine job bundling Vuate Karawalevu into touch as the winger dived for the corner.

Van der Merwe then got in on the act and edged himself back ahead of Graham in the Scotland try-scoring list when he finished off a well-worked score which featured a lovely round-the-back pass from Hastings and good link play from Jones during the lead-up.

And Jones rounded off the scoring when Hastings, for the second time in the match, picked out a free player on the wing with a well-judged cross-kick (the previous occasion was when setting up Graham’s second try).

Van der Merwe thought he had got his second just before the final whistle but the TMO correctly identified that Jones’ foot had strayed into touch during the lead-up.

Teams –

Scotland: K Rowe (T Jordan 40+1); D Graham (S McDowall 65), H Jones, S Tuipulotu, D van der Merwe; A Hastings, A Price (J Dobie 48); P Schoeman (R Sutherland 48), E Ashman (D Richardson 48), Z Fagerson (D Rae 59), G Gilchrist, S Cummings (M Williamson 60), M Fagerson, R Darge, J Dempsey (G Brown 67).

Fiji : I Armstrong-Ravula; V Karawalevu, A Vota ( S Nalaga. 63), I Tabuavou ( K Valetini 59), P Loganimasi; C Muntz, F Lomani (S Kuruvoli 63); H Hetet ( L Natave 59), T Ikanivere (M Dolokoto 59), S Tawake (J Koroiduadua 59), I Nasilasila, R Leone Rotuisolia (M Vocevoce 50), R Meli Derenalagi (V Miramira 67), K Salawa, E Canakaivata.

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)

Scorers  –

Scotland: Tries: Rowe, Graham 4, Jones 2, van der Merwe; Con: Hastings 7; Pen: Hastings

Fiji: Tries: Armstrong-Ravula, Derenalagi, Ikanivere; Con: Armstrong-Ravula.

Scoring sequence (Scotland first): 5-0; 7-0; 12-0; 14-0; 19-0; 24-0; 26-0; 26-5; 29-5; 29-10 (h-t) 29-15; 29-17; 34-17; 36-17; 41-17; 43-17; 48-17; 50-17; 55-17; 57-17.

Yellow cards –

Scotland:

Fiji: Lomani (5 mins), Vota (13 mins).

Scotland: Ashman (32 mins)

Autumn Series: Scotland vs Fiji: live blog …. Full-time: Scotland 57-17 Fiji