Fiji spoil Ford's party in win over Scotland
Fiji stunned Scotland 27-22 as Ross Ford's landmark outing ended in defeat in Suva on Saturday.
Veteran hooker Ford made history, becoming Scotland's most capped player with a record 110th international appearance.
The 33-year-old capped his outing with a try, but Fiji spoiled the party at ANZ National Stadium as Scotland crashed back down to earth following their sensational win over Australia last time out.
Peceli Yato and Henry Seniloli crossed over for the Fijians, while Ben Volavola as on song with his boot – converting once and kicking five penalties.
Ford, Ruaridh Jackson and Fraser Brown claimed tries for Scotland, who ended their three-game tour with a loss after making 12 changes to the team that upstaged the Wallabies in Sydney.
It was an evenly-contested opening, with fans having to wait until the 25th minute for the first points of the game – Volavola converting a penalty.
That sparked Scotland into action as Ford emerged from a rolling line-out maul to help give the Scottish visitors a 7-3 lead thanks to Jackson's conversion.
Fiji hit straight back courtesy of three points from Volavola before Yato raced to the corner for a try, though the former was unable to add the extras as the score remained 11-7 at half-time.
Scotland lifted their game in the second half, levelling proceedings via Jackson in the 54th minute and scoring another try but they never led as Seniloli's five-pointer and Volavlo's conversion and three penalties saw the Fijians home.
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Wales were lucky the Boks should put 60 points past them
Go to commentsI'd rate the brothers Hendricks a point or two lower. Jaden has really not delivered on his early promise and Jordan's kicking at posts was quite erratic. Amongst other things.
I was really surprised that DuhDuh was replaced and not Jordan. DuhDuh had a great game and just underlined his class in a backline that was not firing on all cylinders.
Damian Willemse was missed. Hopefully he'll be back to full fitness and have an injury free 2025 (and '26 and '27 and so on until he decides to retire to spend time with his grandchildren).
RG was great. What an athlete.
Very happy that Hanekom made his debut at last. He gave a good account of himself and will hopefully grow into his role on the international stage.
All things considered, this was another frustrating Bok performance. Even though it was a comfortable win, it wasn't a commanding win. This Welsh team should've been put away by a far larger margin.
But I have faith in Dr Rassie. He knows more than I do. Bring on 2027 😁
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