Scotland's stand-in captain Stafford McDowall has expressed his determination for the team to conclude the Nations Championship season with a victory over Fiji at Murrayfield.
The Scottish side is set to play their final match of the first half of the tournament, following previous fixtures against Argentina and South Africa. With a crowd expected to exceed 50,000, McDowall stated that the squad, featuring a significantly changed lineup, is focused on rewarding the supporters with a strong performance.
"You don't want to leave a sour taste in your mouth for the end of the season," McDowall said. "It's been such a strong season for a lot of the boys, for club and country. You want to finish it on a high, especially with over 50,000 people, mainly Scotland fans, having bought tickets to come here and watch. You want to put on a good performance for them."
McDowall acknowledged the honor of captaining the team again, with regular captain Sione Tuipulotu named among the replacements. This will be his fourth or fifth time leading the team, depending on how previous co-captaincies are counted. He noted that this is the first Tier 1 side he will face as captain, and he is particularly looking forward to the opportunity at Murrayfield.
"It's a massive honour for me and my family so I'm really excited to get another shot at it," McDowall added. "This is the first Tier 1 side I've faced as captain so I'm really looking forward to getting another chance to do it, particularly at Murrayfield in the sunshine."
Head coach Gregor Townsend anticipates a challenging match against Fiji, despite their recent results. He noted that tournament regulations have required Fiji to play all three of their "home" games in the UK due to stadium size requirements, a situation he acknowledged might be unfair but a practical necessity for the tournament structure. Townsend believes that having players based primarily in Europe presents both advantages and disadvantages for the Fijian team.
"I think it would be very difficult otherwise to work this tournament," Townsend said. "Having to go to Argentina, South Africa and Fiji in three weeks would have been very challenging. I'm not saying it was impossible, but I know that would have been challenging for every team."
Townsend expects Fiji to present a formidable challenge, drawing parallels to their strong performance against Scotland last summer. "We're expecting the Fiji team to play like they played against us last summer — where they were excellent," he stated.
The current Scottish squad is a much-changed lineup from previous matches, with McDowall highlighting the opportunity for players to reconnect with families and return home briefly. This differs from their schedule at the same point last year, when they were still in Auckland preparing to play Samoa. The team has benefited from being back home this week.