Scotland player ratings: ‘Dancing’ Darcy Graham dazzles after 13-month absence as ‘classy’ Huw Jones tears Fiji to shreds
Split with Scotland trio Huw Jones, Darcy Graham and Adam Hastings.
Following Scotland’s 57-17 dominant victory over Fiji at Murrayfield, here are our player ratings for Gregor Townsend’s men.
Player ratings
15 Kyle Rowe: Scored the first try of the game early on and contributed to a powerful attack that took Fiji apart in the first quarter especially. However, he was removed shortly after the break for Tom Jordan, who sparkled on debut. 6
14 Darcy Graham: Just the game he needed after a struggle with injury as he scored a whopping four tries in a sensational effort at Murrayfield. Graham was a dancing delight with his only fault when he fell for an outrageous Tevita Ikanivere dummy which resulted in a Fiji try. 9
13 Huw Jones: Classy as ever. Jones scored two tries and assisted another two in a typically brilliant shift alongside his skipper in the midfield. Outside of his impact with the ball in hand, it was his expert line running in set moves that opened up space for others – a very underrated quality of his. 9
12 Sione Tuipulotu: The inside centre is a fly-half’s dream to double up as another playmaker with his soft hands but remains a potential battering ram. Marked his first outing as captain with a good shift. 7
11 Duhan van der Merwe: The gargantuan wing would have been itching to get over the line in a game where it was seemingly raining tries at Murrayfield and he eventually did. He got stuck in, looked for the ball and made some solid metres. 8
Hero Hastings
10 Adam Hastings: Handed the keys in Finn Russell’s absence and handled it with aplomb. Not only was he accurate from the tee, he ran the attack effectively headlined by a FILTHY pass behind his back for Van der Merwe’s try. 9
9 Ali Price: Handed a surprise start and did alright. His distribution was good enough and there are no major complaints but it was not an effort that will force Townsend to start him again. 5
Power pack
8 Jack Dempsey: Barnstorming to say the least. The number eight carried extremely well and made big metres doing so. He has become a very consistent performer for Scotland and tonight was no different. 8
7 Rory Darge: Another back-row who worked his socks off. Where Dempsey took the mantle in the carries, so did Darge with the tackles, notching up 22 on the night while also making an impact at the breakdown. 8
6 Matt Fagerson: Quiet compared to his back-row teammates but still made 17 tackles in his shift tonight. Ticked all the boxes otherwise. 7
5 Scott Cummings: The second-row worked hard in the tight and tried to get his hands on the ball when he could. There were no issues in the set-piece as he had a neat outing in Edinburgh. 6
4 Grant Gilchrist: Commanding in the line-out, taking an impressive nine on the night, while also getting stuck in on both sides of the ball. 8
3 Zander Fagerson: Really has developed into a quality tighthead for Scotland and scrummed like a warrior, earning his money against a big Fijian pack. 7
2 Ewan Ashman: Copped a yellow for repeated infringements but was not at fault for much else. The line-out missed his throwing accuracy when he left the pitch. 7
1 Pierre Schoeman: Scotland didn’t really need his hard work in the tight carries as they cut Fiji open regularly. Still, he scrummed well and carried where he was required. 7
Replacements: Jordan had a debut to remember as he came on adding attacking impetus, flair and physicality. We will be seeing more of him. Jamie Dobie also made an impact. 7
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