Australia have come to regard Cardiff as their home in Europe having only lost twice at the home of Welsh rugby since it was remodelled in 1999, and then by one score each time. They scored three tries in the opening 43 minutes but failed to secure a bonus point after fading in the final quarter, something that will be of no consequence if they win all their matches to top the group.
A team that, less than a year ago, provoked scorn and mirth has to be taken seriously again. England may have secured a bonus point against Fiji last week with the final move of the game, but the Wallabies, playing in front of a crowd with a liberal splatter of yellow that cheered hard for the underdogs, were impressive overall, even if questions about their set-piece efficiency remain.
Australia repeated the ploy of playing David Pocock and Michael Hooper in the back row; it gave them an advantage at the breakdown without impairing their ball-carrying threat. Pocock may be an open-side flanker, but he is difficult to halt when he gets into his stride and he bounced off tacklers who went too high.
He scored Australia’s first two tries, both from driving lineouts and was named man of the match, but Hooper’s influence was profound from the opening minute when he chopped down Waisea Nayacalevu with such force after the wing had started to gallop that the Fijian was taken off with knee ligament damage. When the flanker made the same move on the replacement, Aseli Tikoirotuma, he was left on his back, but it was the only indignity he suffered.
Australia failed to make an impression on Fiji in scrums on their own put-in, once conceding a penalty after opting not to strike the ball but shove – and not moving forward one millimetre. They also lost three successive lineout throws in the final quarter as a lack of match sharpness caught up with them, but overall they played with composed maturity, not getting sucked into unstructured mayhem and were not obsessed at the end by chasing the bonus point.
Their attitude was a reflection of the strides made by Fiji, who may have lost their opening two games, all but guaranteeing them an early exit, but are no longer treated as a tier two nation. Momentary lapses against both England and Australia cost them, as did another sin-binning: Campese Ma’afu’s departure here on 29 minutes, for kicking the ball out of a ruck while sitting on the floor, was immediately followed by Pocock’s second try, but Fiji enjoyed long spells of pressure and one sublime try, after the second of two shimmering breaks by the outside-half Ben Volavola, was a modest return.
The second row Leone Nakarawa off-loaded outrageously all evening, but too many of Fiji’s moves ended with an unforced error, a sloppy pass, poor handling or the ball-carrier and receiver operating in different time zones. If overeagerness occasionally undermined them, Australia’s satisfaction at a victory that did not include a bonus point, something that in previous tournaments would have been regarded as a moral defeat, was acknowledgment of Fiji’s rise in status.
There was a point in the first half when Fiji were in danger of being overrun. A strong opening saw them level on 25 minutes, Nemani Nadolo replying to Bernard Foley’s early penalty, but the Wallabies repelled a series of drives, Pocock and Hooper at the centre of the resistance, and Pocock’s two tries in four minutes tilted the balance of the game.
Fiji were 18-3 down at half-time five days after playing at Twickenham. When they conceded a soft try three minutes after the restart, Israel Folau’s break on the left creating the space for the prop Sekope Kepu to score on the right, there was a danger of everything falling apart. It lasted only as long as it took for Nakarawa to start another attack: Nadolo’s second penalty gave them renewed vigour and Volavola, who is based in Sydney with the Waratahs, scored the try of the match.
He had been diffident in the opening 50 minutes, operating in the long shadow cast by his half-back partner Nikola Matawalu, but became assertive from the moment the scrum-half went off, one of the few players on the evening not interested in bashing his way through the defensive line, his subtle touches relief from the brutality of the exchanges.
“We are a humble team and it was all about getting the victory,” said the Australia coach, Michael Cheika, when asked if he regretted the failure to secure a fourth try and an extra point. “England are the favourites to win the pool as hosts and when it comes to us, the question is how good are we?, something we can only answer through our performances”
They were very good for the first hour, Matt Giteau’s return adding a sharpness behind, and more cohesive than England have looked in the last month. They lost the replacement prop James Slipper, who was knocked out attempting a tackle, but they had already delivered the most telling blows.
Australia Folau; Ashley-Cooper, Kuridrani, Giteau (Beale, 71), Horne; Foley (Toomua, 77), Genia (Phipps, 64); Sio (Slipper, 55; Sio, 64), Moore (capt; Polota-Nau, 64), Kepu (Holmes, 55), Douglas (Skelton, 70), Simmons (Mumm, 61), Fardy, Hooper, Pocock. Sin-bin Kuridrani 71
Tries Pocock 2, Kepu. Cons Foley 2. Pens: Foley 3.
Fiji Talebula; Nayacalevu (Tirokoituma, 4), Goneva, Lovobalavu, Nadolo; Volavola, Matawalu (Kenatale, 49); Ma’afu, Tuapati, Saulo (Colati, 77), Cavubati (Soqeta, 61), Nakarawa, Yato (Ravai, 35-40), Qera (capt), Talei (Ravulo, 66).
Sin-bin Ma’afu 29.
Try Volavola. Con Nadolo. Pens Nadolo 2.
Referee G Jackson (New Zealand). Attendance 67,253
