And the South African only lasted 45 minutes against QPR before he was taken off - having been at fault for both QPR goals.
Gallen's opener on 37 minutes came from Marcus Bignot who crossed the ball for Paul Furlong to head it down to his captain.
He was then allowed to turn past Fish to fire a low shot into the net for an easy goal.
Rowlands made it two just before the break as Gallen turned provider by heading clear of the hapless Fish before crossing to his left for the winger to stab home.
But Ipswich pulled one back after 54 minutes through Sam Parkin - himself a childhood QPR fan - after being put through by Darren Currie.
The visitors enjoyed the bulk of possession in the opening stages on a warm west London evening, but it was Rangers who had the best early chances.
Ipswich were a shadow of the side that hammered Rangers 4-2 at Loftus Road last season, before Joe Royle's summer sale of Darren Bent, Shefki Kuqi and Kelvin Davis.
Gallen did well to beat Ipswich left-back Fabian Wilnis to fire in a cross for Furlong in the sixth minute but the striker just failed to connect with an attempted diving header.
Then Gareth Ainsworth beat three players to run half of the pitch only to bury the ball into the back of Ipswich defender Richard Naylor.
Rowlands had the ball in the back of the net in the 18th minute but referee Keith Stroud had blown the whistle for an earlier foul in the box.
Two minutes later Furlong should have done better after Tom Doherty had put the ball through to the former Chelsea man but his shot was kept out by Naylor's leg.
Rangers had a strong shout for a penalty turned down in the 41st minute when Ian Westlake appeared to foul Marc Bircham in the area but referee Stroud was unmoved.
Furlong had three chances late in the game. He had a header saved before having a goal ruled out for offside then nodded wide of the far post with nine minutes remaining on the clock.