The 67,253 crowd backed the Fijians to the hilt, but it was Michael Cheika’s Rugby Championship winners Australia who came out on top 28-13 thanks, in the main, to two tries from No 8 David Pocock from driving line-outs.
There was a third try for the Wallabies in the second half from prop Sekope Kepu, but for much of the game they were held by the tough tackling, strong scrummaging and hard running Fijians. The Australians emerged with only one injury, to replacement prop James Slipper, but they failed to pick up the bonus point.
There was a chance in the second half to kick for the corner when they received a penalty in the Fijian 22 but, having lost three consecutive line-outs, they kicked for goal instead. Fiji had plenty of possession and territory, but they could only muster the one try.
That came from a great individual break from Waratahs outside half Ben Volavola in the second half which Nemani Nadolo converted to cut the gap to 12 points with 19 minutes left to play. Just how much pressure they were able to put on the Aussies was illustrated in the tackle count, which was 122-83 in favour of the Fijians.
Having played England and Australia in the space of six days, the Fijians will now have an eight day break before returning to the Millennium Stadium to face Wales on 1 October. Without a point to their name after two battling performances they will no doubt be intent on causing a similar upset to 2007 in Nantes.
As for the Australians, who Wales meet at Twickenham on 10 October in their final game in Pool A, they head to Villa Park this weekend to meet Uruguay at Villa Park. Cheika was happy with the opening result and is preparing to utilise his whole squad on Sunday.
“It was a really good work-out for us, very physical. It was exactly what we needed and I was pleased with a lot of the things we did. We’ll turn the team around now for Uruguay on Sunday,” said Cheika after the game.
?Wales still top the pool after their opening round victory over Uruguay, but the biggest games still lie ahead for Sam Warburton’s men.
