Coconuts and flowers will be forgotten when Fiji flick the switch - Scotland player's warning

It seemed a distant prospect back in April as he was driven off on the back of a medical cart midway through the second half of Glasgow Warriors’ comprehensive defeat by Leinster in the quarter-finals of the Investec Champions Cup.

Ankle ligament damage was the diagnosis, serious enough but not as bad as initially feared and Fagerson has worked hard to return sooner than expected. Gregor Townsend dangled the carrot of the summer tour and the player said it spurred him on through his rehabilitation.

“I'm incredibly happy to be back, just to be back training, to be honest,” said Fagerson from Scotland’s base in Fiji. “It was pretty touch and go. I had a CT scan about three weeks ago. And then when I got the all-clear from that, it was basically a race against time.

“The physios have been great. I managed to get back where I can run and I can train. I've started a couple of weeks of training now, so I'm very excited to be back.

“I think it's easier in the rehab when you've got an end goal. I think if Gregor had said, regardless of the scan, ‘just leave it, we're not going to take you on tour’, then it probably would have been a little bit harder because the timeline is longer. You are adding in holidays, there are no games and there's not really a goal to go after.

Zander took it pretty hard

“So when he said he'd be really excited if I managed to get fit and come on tour, it gave me a lease of life in my rehab. I've been pretty diligent in what I've done and I'm pretty on top of things. We've managed to shave a couple of weeks off, which has been good. As I said, I'm very excited to be here.”

It has been a summer of contrasting fortunes for the Fagerson brothers. Older sibling Zander was named in the British and Irish Lions squad for Australia but had to withdraw last month after suffering a setback to the calf injury he sustained while training with Glasgow.

“He took it pretty hard,” said Matt. “He had his injury before the squad was announced and he was over the moon [to be selected], as we all were for him. He's been really diligent in his rehab and he's come back to a really good place. But re-injuring it, that was definitely a big blow for him.

“He's old enough now to realise that there are some things he can't control. He did everything right and these things happen. I think he's come to accept that. He's just working away at home to try and get himself back fit and spend some quality time with the kids and his wife, Yasmine.”

Matt, meanwhile, is enjoying his first experience of Fiji where temperatures are a pleasant 24 degrees and the Scotland squad have been afforded the sort of welcome that will live long in the players’ memories.

Coconuts and flowers

“The Fijians have been so welcoming since we came to Suva,” he said. “Whether that be in the hotel at 1am, they were singing songs, handing out coconuts to us and putting flowers around your neck and stuff.

“But I know that, obviously, when the game comes at the weekend, they'll be cheering for their boys and they'll be incredibly loud. I wouldn't quite call it hostile, but I think it'll be a great atmosphere for us to play in.”

Saturday’s game, the second of Scotland’s three-match Pacific tour, has long been earmarked as the key clash. Townsend’s side opened with a hard-fought 29-26 win over the Maori All Blacks in a non-cap international in Wangarei at the weekend and will return to New Zealand for the final match against Samoa but it is the Fiji game that looms large for the Scots.

Ranking points are at stake as both sides seek to boost their placings ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup draw in December and Townsend has also cited his last experience of bringing a Scotland side to Suva, in 2017, when they lost 27-22 to their hosts in the early months of the head coach’s tenure.

Unlucky Fiji

Fiji come into Saturday’s game on the back of an impressive performance against Australia in New South Wales last weekend. They ended up losing 21-18 after captain Harry Wilson scored a late try for the Wallabies but the travelling Scotland squad were impressed,

“We were in the airport in Auckland when the first half was going on, and then probably saw about 10 minutes of the second half as well,” said Fagerson. “I felt they were really unlucky not to come away with the win. They played really well.”

Fergus Burke, Scotland’s New Zealand-born stand-off, has been briefing his team-mates on what to expect in Fiji having played there for the Crusaders against the Fijian Drua in Super Rugby.

“He said it's probably one of the toughest games domestically he's ever played,” said Fagerson. “The whole country is behind them here. I can't remember the last time they had a Tier 1 nation coming to play in Fiji so it's going to be an absolutely massive game.

“We've had a great welcome, but we know they're going to flick a switch at the weekend. It's going to be an incredibly tough game. It's one I think everyone's looking forward to.”