Scotland’s summer tour of the South Pacific suffered a setback when they were handed a 29-14 defeat against Fiji in an entertaining international in Suva on Saturday.
In a fast-paced and exciting encounter, Fiji had too much firepower for their opponents who finished the match with 14 men after Darcy Graham, who missed out on selection to the British and Irish Lions squad, was red carded in the final quarter.
In the end, the home side delivered an outstanding performance and were deserved winners after outscoring the Scots by four tries to two.
Tevita Ikanivere, Kalaveti Ravouvou and Jiuta Wainiqolo crossed the whitewash for Fiji while they were also awarded a penalty try and Caleb Muntz slotted two conversions and a penalty.
For the visitors, Kyle Rowe and Tom Jordan scored tries and their other points came via the boot of Test debutant Fergus Burke who succeeded with a couple of conversions.
Fast start from Scotland
Gregor Townsend’s troops were fastest out of the blocks and opened the scoring as early as the third minute when Rowe dotted down and Burke’s conversion gave the visitors a deserved 7-0 lead.
Shortly afterwards, Ewan Ashman was yellow carded before Muntz opened Fiji’s account via a penalty midway through the half.
Things went pear-shaped for Scotland in the 33rd minute when Graham was yellow carded for foul play and Fiji made full use of their numerical advantage as Ikanivere and Ravouvou crossed for tries during the closing stages of the opening half which gave them a 15-7 lead at the interval.
Argentina v England preview: ‘Hungry and highly motivated’ visitors to clinch series against ‘desperate’ Los Pumas
Scotland made a bright start to the second half when Jordan crossed for a converted try in the 44th minute but that would be the last time they would score points as Fiji finished stronger.
Wainiqolo dotted down in the 57th minute and 10 minutes later things went from bad to worse for the Scots when Graham was red carded.
This, after he tried to intercept a pass deep inside his 22 but did so from an offside position. He was also the last defender which resulted in referee Ben O’Keeffe issuing him his second yellow card as well as a penalty try to the hosts, which sealed their victory.
The teams
Fiji: 15 Salesi Rayasi, 14 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 13 Sireli Maqala, 12 Josua Tuisova, 11 Jiuta Wainiqolo, 10 Caleb Muntz, 9 Simione Kuruvoli, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Elia Canakaivata, 6 Lekima Tagitagivalu, 5 Temo Mayanavanua, 4 Isoa Nasilasila, 3 Mesake Doge, 2 Tevita Ikanivere, 1 Eroni Mawi
Replacements: 16 Samuel Matavesi, 17 Haereiti Hetet, 18 Samuela Tawake, 19 Mesake Vocevoce, 20 Albert Tuisue, 21 Sam Wye, 22 Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula, 23 Vilimoni Botitu
Scotland: 15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Cameron Redpath, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Kyle Steyn, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (c), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 George Horne, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Ollie Smith
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Jordan Way (Australia), Matt Kellahan (Australia)
TMO: Richard Kelly (New Zealand)
READ MORE: Ranked: British and Irish Lions positional depth chart ahead of Wallabies Test series with key risers identified