Darcy Graham reminds us just how good he is for Scotland - but another man deserves serious praise

This was a welcome reminder of just what an exciting talent Darcy Graham is. Scotland weren’t entirely convincing, and they had a notably shaky spell either side of half-time, but they put 50-plus points on the Fijians and finished the match with eight tries, Graham getting four of them.

He briefly drew level with Duhan van der Merwe at the top of the all-time Scotland try list but the latter had the final say, bagging one of his own to move on to 29. Graham is now on 28, one ahead of Stuart Hogg and clear in second place.

It was the little winger’s first Scotland match since the World Cup defeat by Ireland in Paris in October last year. He limped off that evening and has been dogged by injury over the last two seasons but he was back to his sprightly best in this 57-17 win. Fast, alert and imaginative, he showed himself to be Scotland’s most natural finisher and looked hungry throughout.

Darcy Graham scores the first of his four tries at Murrayfield. | SNS Group

He was aided by the excellent Adam Hastings, who took over the reins at 10 in the absence of Finn Russell and led the attack well. All Scotland’s tries came from the backs, with Huw Jones weighing in with two and Kyle Rowe getting one before going off just before half-time with a hamstring injury. Hastings also converted seven of Scotland’s eight tries and added a penalty in his first home outing for Scotland since he faced the same opponents two years ago. On that occasion, he scored a fine try but was pulverised by Ratu Rotuisolia and was sidelined for weeks. This was a far happier occasion for the stand-off.

He and his Glasgow Warriors team-mates had a big influence. There were 15 of them in the match-day 23, including new captain Sione Tuipulotu, and it helped with cohesion and confidence as they rode out the mid-game sticky spell. There was also a debut off the bench for Tom Jordan who replaced Rowe and looked the part.

It is only the starter, of course, and world champions South Africa will present a far sterner test next Sunday, but it was a decent way to start the Autumn Nations Series.

Fiji were loose in the early stages. Inia Tabuavou threw away possession and then scrum-half Frank Lomani came flying out the line way too quickly as Hastings tried to play in Tuipulotu. Lomani was shown the yellow card but there was no penalty try because referee Craig Evans felt there was enough Fijian cover.

Scotland would be entitled to disagree and their frustrations continued when Ewan Ashman had a try chalked off. Peeling off the back of a lineout maul, the hooker grounded the ball but Pierre Schoeman had blocked off Fiji winger Ponipate Loganimasi.

Adam Hastings kicked 17 points from the tee. | SNS Group / SRU

The first score was delayed by only a minute and it was nicely worked, Graham, Ali Price and Hastings combining before Rowe showed lovely footwork to pounce for his first Scotland try at Murrayfield.

It opened the door for Scotland, and they plundered three more tries in the next 10 minutes as Fiji went down - briefly - to 13 men. Vuate Karawalevu was the guilty man this time and was sent to the bin for killing the ball.

Scotland scored almost immediately, Graham playing a smart one-two with Ashman up the right wing for his first try of the evening. He got his second three minutes later but had a nervous wait while it was checked with the TMO. Hastings was the creator, finding Graham with a cross kick. Fiji were sleeping but Ponipate Loganimasi managed to half tackle Graham as he tried to kick the ball down the wing. He wriggled free and picked up the loose ball to score. It initially looked like Graham might have dropped it but he made the slightest of connections with his foot and the score was awarded.

Hastings, who had converted the first two tries, wasn’t able to land this one but the Scots were in the driving seat and they moved further ahead on the 20-minute mark as the alert Jones profited from a slack pass by Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula to run in an interception try.

Hastings added the extras to make it 26-0 and Scotland looked like they might run away with it. Fiji had other ideas. They may have been missing some of their biggest stars but there was still plenty of talent out there and an abundance of Fijian muscle. Some of the hits were monstrous and in the final 10 minutes of the half the visitors exerted enormous pressure, scoring two tries as the Scots had Ashman yellow-carded and lost Rowe to injury.

Scotland had been trying desperately to keep Fiji out and Evans had seen enough, showing Ashman the yellow card. Fiji scored immediately, Armstrong-Ravula atoning for his earlier error after good work by Loganimasi.

A penalty by Hastings made it 29-5 but the respite was brief and things unravelled further for Scotland as the clock moved into the red. Fiji scored their second try, Ratu Meli Derenalagi escaping from Tuipulotu to dot down. It was a frustrating end to the half for the Scots, whose lead had been cut to 29-10.

Kyle Rowe limped off injured. | SNS Group

Worse was to follow at the start of the second half as Fiji mugged Scotland off. A quick ball to the front of the lineout was popped back to Tevita Ikanivere and the Fiji hooker sold Graham an outrageous dummy to score try number three which Armstrong-Ravula converted.

Scotland’s lead was down to 12 points and they needed to take affirmative action. Step forward Graham. The little winger spotted a gap, shrugged off a tackle and darted in for his hat-trick score. Hastings converted.

Scotland were in trouble at the restart, Dempsey attempting some sort of hacked clearance, but Jordan came to the rescue with a try-saving tackle on Karawalevu. The hosts made the most of the let-off, and quickly switched into attack mode. They built the phases and Jamie Dobie switched it to Graham who plunged over for the record-equalling try. It was the second time in three international matches that the winger had bagged a four-try haul but he looked groggy as he got up from the turf and went off for an HIA.

With Graham off the park, van der Merwe stepped up and reclaimed the Scotland try record. It was set up by an outrageous Hastings pass from behind his back which found Jones who in turn played van der Merwe.

Jones got his second a couple of minutes later, collecting another excellent cross-kick from Hastings for a simple score. Van der Merwe thought he’d got another try at the death but Jones’ foot had been in touch in the build-up.

Scorers: Scotland: Tries: Rowe, Graham 4, Jones 2, van der Merwe. Cons: Hastings 7. Pens: Hastings.

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

Yellow cards: F Lomani (Fiji, 5min), A Vota (Fiji, 14min), E Ashman (Scotland, 32min).

Scotland: K Rowe (T Jordan 40); D Graham (McDowall 65), H Jones, S Tuipulotu, D van der Merwe; A Hastings, A Price (J Dobie 49; P Schoeman (R Sutherland 49), E Ashman (D Richardson 49), Z Fagerson (D Rae 59), G Gilchrist (M Williamson 59), S Cummings, M Fagerson, R Darge, J Dempsey (Brown 68).

Fiji: I Armstrong-Ravula; V Karawalevu, A Vota (W Nalaga 64), I Tabuavou (K Valetini 60), P Loganimasi; C Muntz, F Lomani (M Kuruvoli 64); H Hetet (L Natave 60), T Ikanivere, (M Dolokoto 61), S Tawake (J Koroiduadua 60), I Nasilasila, R Rotuisolia (M Vocevoce 50), M Derenalagi, K Salawa, E Canakaivata (V Miramira 68).

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales).

Attendance: 67,000.

READ MORE - How the Scotland players rated at Murrayfield