Jamie Dobie double sparks fightback as Scotland overcome Fiji challenge

By Gavin McCafferty, Press Association

Jamie Dobie scored a double off the bench as Scotland’s replacements made their mark in a second-half comeback over Fiji.

Replacements Pierre Schoeman and Scott Cummings also grabbed tries as Scotland overturned a 10-point deficit to triumph 33-17 in the Nations Championship at Murrayfield.

Jonny Gray had opened the scoring for Gregor Townsend’s side but Fiji responded with three first-half tries, the final one when they were temporarily down to 14 men.

Scotland had been too predictable in the opening half after Townsend made 14 changes for their final summer encounter.

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But the rhythm, directness and conviction came after Townsend turned to his bench and Fiji’s resistance was broken as Scotland dominated the final half hour to seal the bonus-point win.

Scotland were looking to build on an impressive win in Argentina and a spirited defeat in South Africa as they hosted Fiji in what was technically an away game.

The visitors to Edinburgh were looking to bounce back from a heavy defeat by England and they produced a strong defensive display allied with flair on the break.

Fiji ultimately made 232 tackles to Scotland’s 98 and Townsend’s side eventually wore them down.

Scotland had some strong early pressure but Fiji came up with some major defence before being breached in the 14th minute.

George Horne was halted on the five-metre line just before Gray managed to touch down despite the efforts of two opponents to keep the ball off the ground. Horne converted.

Fiji were ahead within five minutes though, showing their intent to attack when Gregor Brown was penalised for holding on to the ball on the ground. A kick for touch soon led to a try as Tevita Ikanivere crossed from the lineout maul.

Their second try was more typical of Fiji rugby traditions as they broke from deep in their own half before winger Selesitino Ravutaumada finished brilliantly, a grubber kick taking him away from Josh Bayliss.

Ravutaumada was shown a yellow card following a head-on-head challenge on Horne but it was the underdogs who added to the scoring before the break. A cross-field kick put Scotland on the back foot and Elia Canakaivata surprised everyone at the breakdown by turning and running for the line through a huge gap before launching himself between the posts.

Fiji converted through Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula to lead 17-7 at the break.

Townsend’s side were still lacking creativity in the opening stages of the second half but the substitutions immediately made an impact. Schoeman forced his way over in the 53rd minute after captain Stafford McDowall carried well following a lineout.

Scotland were quickly back on the attack. Duhan van der Merwe and Schoeman were stopped just short of the line before Bayliss got over but saw the ball pop out of his grasp.

With regular skipper Sione Tuipulotu among the experienced players to come off the bench, Scotland found more tempo to their play. And Dobie squeezed between the post and a Fijian to ground the ball on the line in the 61st minute, with the try standing after lengthy examination of the footage.

Cummings produced a close-range finish in the 74th minute, with Fergus Burke completing a hat-trick of conversions.

Van der Merwe soon won an aerial ball before feeding Bayliss, who set up Dobie in the corner to round off the scoring.