Spring Tour: Fiji vs Scotland. (16/06/2012, 1400 local time )

[Muzzy]

Fiji 6-0 so far

the new war dance is awesome

 

[wafu1110]

6-7 To the Scots Laidlaw try and conv

 

[retardedgenius]

try visser, 24-11 1/2 time

 

[retardedgenius]

full time 37-25 to scotland, tries from laidlaw,penalty try, visser, visser. also dreadful commentating would be an understatment, the phrase "the flying fijians" overused every time fiji touched the ball, even when scotland were dominating in the 1st half. I will take back what i said earlier about de luca, he had a great game and put in an awsome hit on a fiji player to drive him back 5 meters. the commentator kept on calling ritchie gray, al kellock too which is embarrasing!

 

[Muzzy]

the coverage kept messing up so wasn't able to see parts, but it was a close game, Scotland won 37 - 25 in the end, they scored a try in the last few minutes but fiji were right in it for the whole game. Scotland played the right tactics, doing mauls and taking scrums as much as they could, holding the ball in the scrum for as long as they could each time. I thought the way the ref called the scrums was poor though, the way he called "touch, pause engage", he'd have a long space between touch and pause then call engage straight after pause, looked to me like Scotland engaged early in some scrums too but the ref never called it.

Fiji still didn't learn from their handling errors in their last game, it was a decent game though, both teams scored some great tries, but the most exciting one was Talebula's try, was fluky but might be one of the best so far this year.

 

[big ginger 8]

Seems didn't take long to start the expected scoring.

 

[retardedgenius]

as well as the poor coverage, they decided edinburgh is now spelt edingburgh and on top of ritchie gray being al kellock for the day he is the 1st signing for the new glasgow rangers! geeze even got the wrong sport!

 

[Muzzy]

as well as the poor coverage, they decided edinburgh is now spelt edingburgh and on top of ritchie gray being al kellock for the day he is the 1st signing for the new glasgow rangers! geeze even got the wrong sport!

and on top of that you decided Richie Gray is now spelt Ritchie Gray

Fiji coach Inoke Male was left to rue missed scoring opportunities as Scotland scored four converted tries to Fiji’s three for a convincing 37-25 win over the Flying Fijians at Churchill Park today.

“We gave away three scoring opportunities, but overall the boys played better than our last outing against Samoa,†Male said.

“Our decision making was much better as well as our ball handling and passes. We tried coming back into the game in the last 10 minutes but it was too late.â€

Looking ahead to the Tongan game next week, he admits it’s a must-win.

“We will go back to analyse the game and set the gameplan for the final against Tonga next week. We need to win against Tonga as ranking points and the Pacific Nations Cup ***le are at stake.â€

His opposite Andy Robinson was pleased with the win.

“But you have to give credit to the Fiji team, their attacking and offloads were great and we were lucky to score against them.

“When we went 11 points up we knew a win was for the taking so we just had to push on.

“This is a great improvement from 2008 and we are pleased. This is my second time here and its great.â€

Robinson named 7s playmaker Nikola Matawalu as his Fiji’s man of the match.

“He was outstanding and read the game well and contributed in a lot of Fiji’s great attacking play and tries. He played a grand game for Fiji.â€

Fiji scored the first match points thanks to early Scotland infringements at the ruck with flyhalf Jonetani Ralulu stepping up to take well-kicked penalties in the 3rd and 6th minutes of the game. He had a chance to extend the lead but missed a third penalty attempt in the 9th minute.

Nine minutes later, Scotland scrumhalf Greg Laidlaw powers over for the first 5-pointer of the game. He does well to convert his own try to put his team on the front foot 7-6.

The try was to be the turning point for the Scots who were awarded a penalty try in the 23rd minute when Ralulu was penalised for disrupting a Scotland scrum 2m out from Fiji’s tryline. Laidlaw did well with the conversion to take the Scots ahead 14-6.

Fiji replied with a try via Jo Domolailai three minutes later to narrow the deficit 14-11. But, that was to be their final say in the first half as the Scot nailed another penalty via Laidlaw and a converted try from winger Max Evans to take the scores 24-11 at the breather.

The visitors had the first say in the second half with a successful penalty via Laidlaw in the 45th minute before Waisea Nayacalevu found a gap in the Scots defence for a short dive over the corner for a try. Ralulu added the extras to take the scores 27-18.

Seventeen minutes later, Talebula fresh from the bench had a clear run from Scotland’s 22 for Fiji’s third try under the posts with Ralulu nailing the extras to narrow the gap to two points, Scotland still ahead 27-25.

The Scots replied with a penalty to Laidlaw before Visser scored a converted try in the 77th minute for the last points of the match.

Fiji skipper Netani Talei was pleased with how his team mates played despite the loss.

“I thought the boys played well for a team with a host of local players we did great. It was unfortunate that time caught up with us but we have to regroup and move on for the Tongan game. We hope to improve on our game.â€

His opposite Ross Ford, Scotland captain said it was an important win on their Pacific Islands tour.

“After winning against Australia we wanted to maintain a clean record and we did. It was good to win today and we were fortunate to score tries against Fiji.

“Fiji came back into the game into the latter stages but the players continued and were coolheaded. We had no pressure and did not panic and it showed.

“We head out Monday for Samoa and we are lookig forward to another great game.â€

 

[davidpalmer]

Didnt get to see the game. How well did we hold on to the ball at the breakdown? How good were or bad were we? Has Fiji improved any, full story please.

P.S Can' get to the games at Murryfield any more (live in Norfolk) so selling my class A debentures (expire 2045).
South stand S11 seats T11 and T12. £600 each to genuine fans only please (get ready for 10 questions on Scottish rugby to prove ur a fan). They are worth about £850 each. They cost £1200 each new in 1995.

 

[Muzzy]