Townsend rues indiscipline as Scotland suffer costly tour defeat against Fiji

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

GREGOR TOWNSEND admitted Scotland had been the creators of their own downfall as they slumped to a potentially costly 29-14 defeat to Fiji in Suva.
The tourists scored early in each half through Kyle Rowe and Tom Jordan but beyond that were second-best for the rest of the contest as their hosts dominated.
The Scottish cause wasn't helped by poor discipline that saw Ewan Ashman sent to the sin-bin in the first half and Darcy Graham dismissed midway through the second period for a second yellow card offence that also led to a penalty try being awarded.
The loss could be an expensive one as Scotland failed to land the world rankings points they craved as they look to claim a top seeding berth ahead of the World Cup draw later this year.
And Townsend, who has now lost in Fiji three times as a player and coach, conceded his team could have no complaints about the outcome.
He said: 'I think Fiji deserved to win. They had a lot of opportunities to put us under pressure in our 22. They were physical and obviously they're a quality team - and they also showed that last week [against Australia].
'But we're disappointed in our own performance and that we gave them so many opportunities to put pressure on us. The penalty count was too high [15 overall], with three yellow cards. That makes it very tough to win any Test match. Up against a quality side at home, it's going to be really difficult.
'That'll be the biggest area of improvement for us - making sure we don't let a team like Fiji and Samoa get chances in our 22 because we've given away a penalty for whatever reason.'
Townsend, though, felt Graham had been harshly treated with his two yellow cards. The first was for making a tackle on Sireli Maqala before the Fijian had the ball in his possession, while the second was for intercepting a pass from an offside position.
Townsend believes the winger won't be suspended for Friday's match against Samoa back in New Zealand, although a dislocated finger might rule Graham out regardless.
He added: 'I'd have to look at it again but at the time I thought they [the yellow cards] were very harsh. I'm not sure if the first one was going to hand anyway. But the referee makes his calls, and as soon as he's made the call in that area, you know it's going to be a yellow card, a potential penalty try.
'I think the game is a compact game and players are body-to-body a lot in the game. I don't know how we can then make that one an incident that's a yellow card.
'But the referee has to make these calls. I don't want the focus to be on the referee. It's got to be how we can change things and make sure that our discipline, which has been really good in recent games, stays under 10 penalties and there's no yellow cards.'
Scotland are also sweating on the fitness of Jamie Ritchie, who went off during the first half with a foot knock, and Matt Fagerson who suffered a cut eye and also injured the same ankle that kept him sidelined for the last few months of the season. Both will be assessed by the medical team in the coming days.
Captain Rory Darge added: 'We were all looking forward to playing Fiji as it's a unique experience and it was the first time for a lot of us here. We knew the challenge we were going into as they are a quality side. I'm sure there will be a lot of things that come up in review that we could have done much better.'