Scotland performed competently but not spectacularly at Murrayfield on Saturday afternoon to record a 23-10 victory over Fiji to give new coach Andy Robinson a winning start as head coach.

They scored two tries to Fiji?s one and while they never set the world on fire, there was no doubt from early on as to which team would win.

There would have been many positives for new coach Andy Robinson to take out of the game, but it will also have served to show him how much still needs to be done for his team to compete with the top Test teams in the world.

It remains early days of course for the new Scottish coaching team but happily for them, there were signs of tight organisation and a disciplined aggression in attitude.

They showed good shape on attack and defence for much of the game, with some big hits and aggressive defence successfully curtailing attacking Fijian raids for almost the entire game. They very largely prevented the dangerous Fijian broken field runners from gaining momentum.

While they would have hoped for more than two tries, there were certainly welcome signs of attacking shape and momentum which auger well for attack coach Gregor Townsend?s plans for the season.

They did concede unnecessary penalties, often through over-eagerness at scrums and in rucks and they made unforced errors which cost them points. This could be costly in tighter games to come. Set pieces were problematic for Fiji. An international team is unlikely to win games when struggling to win 75 percent of their own scrum ball and winning barely 50 percent of their line-outs.

Against packs stronger than Scotland?s this could prove calamitous. They appeared technically less competent than Scotland as scrummagers and were constantly under pressure in this phase.

It didn't help them either that they played more conservatively than is expected of Fijian teams. They looked most dangerous when running at Scotland carrying the ball and off-loading with short, sharp passes ? but they didn't do that nearly often enough.

Scotland opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Fiji were penalised at a maul on their 10 metre line and Phil Godman goaled the angled kick. Two minutes later he had the opportunity to put three more points on the board from a similar distance and easier angle when, under pressure, Fiji played the ball in an offside position but his kick hit an upright.

In the 22nd minute Johnnie Beattie did well to tap down an inaccurate line-out throw-in from Ross Ford. An alert Chris Cusiter cut through a wide gap in the Fijian line-out defence and raced into the 22 before off-loading to Beattie who powered his way over despite the attention of three tacklers. Godman converted to put Scotland 10-0 ahead.

In the 29th minute, with the visitors? scrum having a torrid time, new cap No 8 Asaeli Boko was penalised for failing to release the ball when Alasdair Strokosch, on his feet, tried to effect a turnover, and Godman goaled (13-0).

Another Godman penalty made it 16-0 after 34 minutes when, somewhat under siege at this stage, Fiji conceded their eighth penalty of the half.

But there was no lack of spirit in the Fijian ranks and when Scotland conceded a free kick and then a penalty at consecutive scrums two minutes before half-time, an excellently executed skip pass from Nicky Little put Vereneki Goneva into just sufficient space out wide, close to the tryline, for Fiji?s first points.

It was a touch of class from Bath flyhalf Little, described during the week by Scotland defence coach Graham Steadman as a "great playmaker".

He converted from close to touch to reduce Scotland?s half-time lead to 16-7.

After Little had failed to goal an early second half penalty, Scotland had an opportunity to kick at goal from close in when Fiji again stood up under pressure in a scrum.

They chose to scrum instead and after the Scottish scrum had the visiting pack reeling backwards, Graeme Morrison scored under the posts. The final pass appeared forward but referee Chris White was close to the action and had no hesitation in awarding the try.

Godman converted to give the Scotland a commanding 23-7 lead. In the 63rd minute Strokosch was penalised for a high tackle and Little goaled (23-10).

Soon after this we saw vintage Fiji in a hand-to-hand passing movement taking play 60 metres upfield but the momentum was lost when a wayward pass from livewire scrum half Moses Rauluni brought relief for Scotland.

They launched a similar attack a few minutes later but conceded another penalty when strongly on attack.

Scotland brought on six substitutes but this didn't help their attacking momentum and they failed to increase their lead as they'd have liked to do.

The official attendance at Murrayfield was a mere 21 826 spectators but if Scotland can build on the promise of this first game with Andy Robinson as head coach and Chris Cusiter as captain, this Scottish team may yet succeed in filling Murrayfield to capacity time and again.

Man of the Match: Johnnie Beattie was good value for Scotland and tight-head Moray Low gave Fijian loose-heads Alefoso Yalayalatabua and sub Graham Dewes a rough time in the scrums. Mike Blair did well in his 17 minutes as a replacement for Chris Cusiter, making Andy Robinson?s selection no easier, but there was much in Cusiter?s performance which exuded class and he is our Man of the Match.

Moment of the Match: The skip pass from Nicky Little which set up the Fiji try was superb but the Moment of the Match must be the Chris Cusiter break and off-load and Johnnie Beattie?s crashing over the tryline held by three tacklers.

Villain of the Match: None in this game.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries: Beattie, Morrison
Cons: Godman 2
Pens: Godman 3

For Fiji:
Try: Goneva
Con: Little
Pen: Little

Teams:

Scotland: 15 Rory Lamont, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Simon Danielli, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Chris Cusiter (captain), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Moray Low, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Jason White, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Chris Paterson, 22 Nick De Luca

Fiji: 15 Josh Matavesi, 14 Vereneki Goneva, 13 Gabirieli Lovobalavu, 12 Seremaia Bai (captain), 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Moses Rauluni, 8 Asaeli Boko, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Josefa Domolailai, 5 Ifereimi Rawaqa, 4 Wame Lewaravu, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Vili Veikoso, 1 Alefoso Yalayalatabua.
Replacements: 16 Graham Dewes, 17 Sereli Ledua, 18 Leone Nakarawa, 19 Samu Bola, 20 Waisale Vatuvoka, 21 Jonetani Ratu, 22 Nasoni Roko.