Gregor Townsend praised the second-half contribution from his bench as sluggish Scotland came from behind to defeat Fiji at Murrayfield.
The Pacific Islanders — nominally the home team — were the dominant side in the first half as a Scotland line-up featuring 14 changes from their defeat to South Africa struggled to make an impact.
It was the replacements who made the difference, with Pierre Schoeman, Scott Cummings and Jamie Dobie, twice, all scoring in the second half to add to Jonny Gray’s early try.
The victory leaves Scotland in second place in the northern table as the Nations Championship reaches the halfway point after three rounds of fixtures.
They made hard work of putting away a Fiji side who started brightly before fading after the interval, but Townsend felt it was the sort of challenge his squad needed.
The head coach said: ‘I said to the team at half-time, this is a great test for us. We want tests of not just how we change things tactically or stick with what we’re doing, we want tests where we have to come back.
Gregor Townsend was thrllled with the way his side bounced back in the second period
‘It’s easy in hindsight when you win, but that’s what I felt at half-time.
‘The team responded really well on the back of a long season, a long tour. We’ll get a lot of benefits from that and evidence for the players that they can find ways to win even when their backs are against the wall.
‘They (the replacements) were very good. I think as well they obviously lifted the players that were on the field. They added in terms of the carrying and the effort. But I felt those guys that went 80 minutes dug deep.
‘We made 14 changes this week and we’ve gone up against a really good Test side who played their best rugby of the campaign. That’s a team that beat us last year. But also knowing that we’ve got players that can make a difference on the bench is reassuring.’
Townsend admitted his team hadn’t been clinical enough in the first half as they passed up a number of good chances to add to Gray’s early try. He added: ‘I think there’s a frustration that we didn’t score more points in the first half. We were in their 22 on a number of occasions. We were playing really good rugby. We just couldn’t finish off a couple of opportunities.’
Captain for the day Stafford McDowall also felt it had been a worthwhile test in front of an impressive crowd of more than 55,000. He said: ‘I’m really proud of the boys. We got loose and let Fiji into the game but we responded and the bench had a really big impact. We had to stick to what we have done all year.
‘It was a good sign to see those lads coming on in the second half. Some of the stuff in the first half wasn’t perfect, but I think it was nine red zone entries. So, we’re obviously doing something right but just couldn’t quite get over the line.’
