Scotland's Pacific roadshow heads to Fiji - and plenty of respect is granted

Scotland are returning to Fiji for the first time in eight years and the aim is to embrace fully the local culture in a country where rugby is a powerful force for good.

The two nations will meet in the capital, Suva, this weekend but, before that, Gregor Townsend expects his squad to immerse themselves in the community.

It’s the second game of Scotland’s Pacific tour and they made a winning start in New Zealand on Saturday with a hard-fought 29-26 victory over the Māori All Blacks. Fiji, meanwhile, were unlucky to lose 21-18 to Australia in Newcastle, New South Wales, as Wallabies captain Harry Wilson scored the winning try a minute from time.

Scotland's Stafford McDowall (R) and Maori All Black's Daniel Rona (L) in action. | SNS Group / SRU

Townsend’s squad travelled to Fiji on Sunday and the head coach is relishing a return to the island nation. Scotland lost 27-22 on their last visit in 2017 and this Saturday’s game is likely to be just as tough a test against opponents ranked ninth in the world, two place below the Scots.

“It will be a new experience for the majority of [the squad],” said Townsend. “There was a couple that were there eight years ago but for the majority it will be the first time they've gone to Fiji and it's a very friendly culture.

“Fijian people are very welcoming and then as rugby players to see people playing in fields, to see the knowledge they have for the game and the joy they'll have seeing us being over there taking on their team, will be brilliant.

Fiji is a unique place for Scotland

“We really want to get out into the community and go to schools and maybe do some coaching sessions with the kids. It is a unique place, there's a huge rugby culture in New Zealand but Fiji is different. They just love the sport so much and they're obviously very skilful because they've played it since a young age and continue to play sevens and fifteens all the way through to Test level.”

While sevens has been the traditional bedrock of the game in Fiji, the national side is enjoying a fruitful spell in 15-a-sides. They reached the quarter-finals of the last Rugby World Cup, beating Australia to progress. They were edged out by England in the last eight but Steve Borthwick’s side needed a late penalty and drop goal from Owen Farrell to win 30-24 in Marseille.

Fiji lost 57-17 at Murrayfield in November but they were without many of their frontline players and will be a very different proposition at home. Their performance on Sunday, in which they scored a first-half try through debutant Salesi Rayasi and a brilliant second-half score created by Jiuta Wainiqolo and finished by Lekima Tagitagivalu, saw them fall just short of a first win over the Wallabies in Australia since 1954.

Arron Reed was among the try-scorers against Maori. | SNS Group / SRU

The heat and humidity are also likely to pose problems for the Scots.

“Fiji is mid-20s to 30 degrees,” said Josh Bayliss, the Scotland flanker who was one of the stand-out performers in the win over the Māori. “So, another challenge for us. But I think everyone's really excited to go over there and rip into another Test week and then see what we can do next weekend.

“It's going to be probably another game where we maybe go to the set-piece to try and get a foothold in the game and then see where we go from there.”

Backs’ speed so vital for Scotland

The tactics in Whangārei were more about utilising the pace of the backline, and the Māori struggled to cope with the little kicks in behind, particularly in the first half when Scotland scored three tries through Harry Paterson, Arron Reed and George Horne, all converted by Adam Hastings who also added a penalty.

The hosts had taken the lead through Sam Nock and Isaia Walker-Leawere scored a second try but the Scots led 24-12 at the break and moved further ahead early in the second half after Horne finished off a brilliant move. But the Māori came back strongly and converted tries from Kurt Eklund and Gideon Wrampling brought them to within three points of the Scots who had to withstand a late barrage as the game continued into the 87th minute.

Townsend was pleased with the defensive effort and felt his leaders - skipper Stafford McDowall and vice-captains Bayliss and Horne - stood up when it mattered most.

Scotland beat Fiji at Murrayfield last autumn. | SNS Group / SRU

“I think when you look at our captains and vice captains, Stafford was excellent in a leadership role,” said the coach. “He carried well, defended well, and I thought Josh Bayliss was outstanding.

“George Horne too. George had two great finishes for tries but equally impressive was his high-end box kicking and we were getting the ball back, with Arron Reed in particular getting up there.

“There was a lot of control about our game. We are having more of a focus on pressurising teams with our kicking game and our set-piece on this tour, and we showed that we can do that against a really dangerous outfit.”

For Bayliss, Saturday’s game against Fiji will be the chance to continue a strong end to a season which was disrupted by injury. The Bath back-row forward impressed for Scotland during the autumn series but missed the Six Nations due to a groin issue. He returned for his club for the domestic run-in and came off the bench as Bath beat Leicester Tigers in the Premiership final at Twickenham. Memories of 2017 won't be too far from the surface as Scotland look to win in Suva before returning to New Zealand to face Samoa in Auckland in the third and final tour match.

“We're well aware of what happened last time and we're well aware of the potential pitfalls of going over there and playing in a new place, new conditions, new environment, so hopefully we'll go there and go one better than last time,” Bayliss said.