The opening round of the HSBC Sevens World Series saw the Fijians in rampant mood en route to victory in the opening tournament.
In the pool stages they averaged 37 points in each of their three pool games. History was against Jevon Groves’ men in the knockout stages as the South Sea Islanders had won 27 of the previous 36 matches between the two sides.
However Wales stunned the favourites with Pontypridd scrum half Tomos Williams sniping over but from the re-start Fiji broke downfield where the galloping Isake Katonibau scored the first of his two tries inside two minutes to turn the game on its head.
But Wales fought back with a fine individual try by flying winger Luke Morgan who stood up Katonibau with tricky footwork to race 50m to score and bring Wales back into the game at halftime with Fiji leading 14-10.
But in the second half Fiji strangled the life out of the game by retaining possession and scoring three tries through Vatemo Ravouvou, Semi Kunatani and Apisalome Waqatabu.
The final score-line of 31-10 was harsh on Wales but the defeat should be held in context as Fiji then crushed England 48-7 in the semi-final before beating Samoa 31-14 in the final.
Wales finished the day beaten 39-5 by New Zealand in the Plate semi-final with Luke Morgan scoring a consolation try.
The draw for the second round in Dubai on December 5-6 has seen Wales paired with South Africa, Portugal and Canada.
