Wales deserved that win, though it was not without some worries for Gatland. They are really going to have to work on their scrum before the match with Australia, though given they only had a five-day turnaround, the exhaustion of the forwards is probably reasonable enough. You’d imagine he’ll just be glad to get away from that without any more serious injuries. Anyway, that’s all from me. Enjoy the rest of your evening and thanks for reading. Bye!
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Full-time: Wales 23-13 Fiji
That’s your lot, folks.
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78 mins Hook has had a couple of decent breaks since coming on. This time it has taken a combination of Seniloli and Tikoirotuma to take him down. The man of the match award has gone to Gareth Davies. Hard to argue with that.
77 mins Scrum to Wales. Faletau picks and goes but gets taken down quickly. Fiji then turn over in front of their posts and boot the ball clear. T’will be nigh on impossible for Wales to get that bonus point now.
76 mins No try! There were some Fijian hands under the ball, rules the TMO.
75 mins Penalty to Wales. They kick for the corner. Fiji are blowing hard, it’s the right thing to do. Owens throws and Jones claims. Now it is Wales’ turn to get rolling. And rolling. And rolling. Davies picks and goes from 5 meters out. He gets to the line. The crowd thinks he has a try but the referee goes to the TMO.
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74 mins Biggar hobbles off with cramp. Priestland comes on to replace him. Fiji have a lineout near the left-hand corner flag. They get their roll on but the offload goes to Priestland rather than a Fijian. If they had scored there it would have been a nervy few minutes for Gatland and co.
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72 mins Just going back to Biggar for a second. He has scored 13 from 13. and back to Hook for a second too. He got an absolutely massive cheer when he came onto the pitch.
70 mins Some more sub news. Jarvis for Jenkins; Tipuric for Lydiate; Soqeta for Cavubati; Ravulo for Waqaniburotu; Matavesi for Goneva; Hook for Morgan; Seniloli for Kenatale.
Penalty! (Biggar, 69 mins) Wales 23-13 Fiji
Biggar hasn’t missed a kick throughout the entire tournament and he was not going to start doing so now.
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68 mins Roberts charges down a Volavola kick behind the Fijian posts. It’s a scrum for Wales a few meters out. Fiji turn that and claim the ball. They look to be out of danger until they go over the top when they shouldn’t. Biggar elects to go for the posts. Sensible choice.
66 mins From a penalty, Biggar kicks for the corner. Charteris wins the lineout and pops a pass to Warburton. He then plays in Owens who looks for the line but is stopped after putting his foot out of play. Owens really should’ve just looked to get behind his captain there and push him over the line.
65 mins Charteris comes back on Davies.
64 mins Scrum to Wales. Davies puts the ball in and it’s a messy one. (Faletau is not playing well today.) The mess ends with Tikoirotuma coming away with the ball and making for the line. He, and a few others, are held up on the left and so Fiji try the right and Goneva. The centre is hauled down around the 22 and the whole stadium breathes a sigh of relief.
62 mins Nakarawa, by the way, must be one of the best offloaders out there.
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60 mins From that penalty, Fiji wade into Welsh territory. The try to attack via the hands but at the breakdown, Wales keep them in check and win back possession. A few moments later, Fiji are back with the ball. Nakarawa strolls down the wing and gets within sniffing distance of the line before the Wales defence digs in and does their job.
58 mins Matthew Morgan is caught in possession near his own posts and Wales are lucky to get away with a penalty. Biggar kicks long and from the lineout Cuthbert breaks. He gets past the first tackle but not the second one. On the ground, there is no one there to support him and he is soon penalised.
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56 mins Another substitution. Baldwin goes, Owens comes.
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Penalty! (Biggar, 55 mins) Wales 20-13 Fiji
... and he scores. That was a sensational kick from Biggar. Wales needed that.
54 mins Penalty to Wales after Qera was penalised at the breakdown for not supporting his own body weight. Biggar shapes to shoot, from wide on the right, near the half-way line ...
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52 mins Francis has gone off. Lee replaces him.
Conversion! (Volavola) Wales 17-13 Fiji
Just four in it. Should Wales be nervous?
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Try! (Goneva, 49mins) Wales 17-11 Fiji
Fiji had the ball in hand in their own 22. They take the what-the-heck approach and try run it. Tikoirotuma has it and he puts the foot to the gas, accelerating past a few Welsh defenders. He offloads to Nagusa who charges towards the line before popping the ball to Goneva to finish the move.
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46 mins Tikoirotuma breaks down the pitch. Fiji offload like there is no tomorrow. Bradley Davies gets his hands in the wrong place and knocks on. Penalty to Fiji in a great postion. Volavola misses. Sigh.
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44 mins From that scrum Wales are pushed back and lucky to win a lineout. Nothing comes of it and moments later Fiji have a penalty after Jones is penalised in the breakdown. Volavola kicks long and this could be a good position from which to launch an attack on Wales. It could be but it isn’t. Communication is lacking at the lineout and Wales claim the ball once more.
42 mins They start by swinging the ball from hand to hand before Wales force Volavola to kick long down field. Wales return the ball and Fiji have it. Not for long though as Cavubati knocks on when trying to offload. Scrum Wales.
40 mins It’s Fiji’s turn to get us going. They will be attacking from right to left in this half. Remember, Wales are just two tries away from that all important bonus point. Can they do it?
Half-time: Wales 17-6 Fiji
Well that was frantic and fun, no? There will be more in a few minutes. See you then for that.
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Penalty! (Volavola, 38) Wales 17-6 Fiji
Volavola handles the pressure and pops it over the bar and in between the posts.
36 mins Scrum to Fiji, 25 odd yards out, after a wonderful break that carved Wales wide open following a drop from Lydiate on the Fijian 22. They win that with ease and decide to go for the posts.
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Conversion! (Biggar) Wales 17-3 Fiji
Biggarena does his thing and does not miss from way out wide.
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Try! (Baldwin, 33 mins) Wales 15-3 Fiji
.. a try it is.
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32 mins Wales win another lineout (on the half-way line) and Roberts looks to power his way to the line. He is held up and Wales are forced to look for another option. That option is Jones and he gets the ball from some nice hands by Biggar and Jenkins. Jones breaks past a few Fijians and passes it to Matt Morgan. He replicates Jones’ run and looks to have a try before being held up and see the ball offloaded to Tyler Morgan, wide on the left, who is held up on the line by a some good defence from Fiji. Baldwin comes in to help his team-mate and it is he who has the final say, just about getting the ball over the whitewash. But wait. The referee is going to the TMO ...
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30 mins Well this has been fun, no? Wales win a lineout and Davies takes. Biggar boots and Goneva runs it right back at them. He skips past a few Welsh tackles, or rather Wales miss a few easy tackles. Mr Edwards will not be a happy bunny.
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28 mins Well we’ll never find out if it was a try or not as Davies was penalised (by the TMO) for tackling around the neck.
27 mins Lineout to Wales at the corner flag on the left. They throw it long and look to drive their way over the line. Fiji stand strong and Wales are forced to recycle. They go for more of the same via Faletau and Warburton before realising they have some spare men out side. They pop it out to Roberts and North. It is latter who goes over the line but is it a try? The TMO will decide.
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26 mins Davies and Cuthbert come back on. Presume it was nothing too serious then.
23 mins Fiji enjoy a decent spell of possession but do nowt with it until Botia picks it up and runs down the left. They work their way forward but are turned over and Davies Morgan scoots his way down the pitch. Having side-stepped a few Fijian players, he finds Davies on his inside channel. It must be a try but it isn’t! They are stooped just inches short of the line by a spectacular recovery tackle from Qera.
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21 mins Cuthbert has just gone down the tunnel and Williams has come on. No idea what is wrong with the No14.
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Penalty! (Biggar, 20) Wales 10-3 Fiji
He sure can.
19 mins North makes hay down the left wing and then Charteris does the same. It all comes to nothing but possession for Fiji. They try their hand at the running game but are held up in the middle of the park. Wales are awarded a penalty at the breakdown for a Fijian offside and Gareth Davies, thinking quickly, picks and runs. Fiji then knock on, meaning Biggar has a penalty in front of the posts, a few meters out. Can he?
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17 mins This one is in a much easier position for Volavola – almost directly in front of the posts – but he hooks it wide. That was a let off for Wales.
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16 mins “What are the odds on another Gatland prodigy walk?” wonders Peter O’Leary. We can but hope. Back in the game, it’s a lineout to Fiji on the left, a fair way inside the Wales half. Waqaniburotu rises and collects but there is interference in the air from Faletau and it’s another penalty to Fiji.
Penalty! (Volavola, 14) Wales 7-3 Fiji
The kick is from out wide but Volavola manages to direct it between the posts by this much.
13 mins Another scrum to Wales. Will Faletau have to pick and go again like the last time? Eh, no because he won’t get the chance as Wales are absolutely destroyed by Fiji. From that they point for the posts ...
12 mins Bradley Davies has got a bang on the nose from Dan Lydiate’s head. Ouch. Charteris comes on to replace him for now.
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11 mins Scrum to Wales. They hold onto possession, just about, and try to attack down the right. They can’t do that so the ball is booted long and Talebula, under pressure, manages to catch it cleanly. They go for the kick-chase action and soon have the ball back in their possession. Botia gets it wide and tries to play in Nagusa but his pass is forward.
9 mins Eoghan Rogers has been in touch. “Wales seem to be going for the corner a lot. I think the rolling maul will be a weakspot for Fiji. Wales need to watch out for “truck and trailer” obstructions though.”
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Conversion! (Biggar) Wales 7-0 Fiji
He was never going to miss from there now, was he?
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Try! (Davies, 7 mins) Wales 5-0 Fiji
Fiji collapse the scrum and instead of going for another one, Faletau taps. He drives for the line but gets held up. No need to worry. Gareth Davies picks the ball up, shapes to pass but instead powers his way over the line from a metre or two out.
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6 mins Gethin Jenkins brings his man down over the line and it’s a 5m scrum to Wales.
4 mins From that penalty, Wales try for a try once more and once more, Fiji hold them up. They move it to the centre but under the posts, Fiji turn them over. Goneva gets the ball in hand and breaks. He gets about 20 meters or so out before Wales win the ball back.
3 mins Wales get a penalty near the corner flag on the left. They opt to try for the try. They attempt to push their way over the line but Fiji keep them in check. The ball is fed back to Biggar. He cross-field kicks, knowing Wales have a penalty, but it comes to nothing.
2 mins What a start for Wales. Fiji won the ball from the kick-off. The swung it across the back before booting it forward. Matthew Morgan caught it and fed North. The winger took the ball and powered his way past the Fiji defence, and was only stopped a few meters out from the line.
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1 min And we are off. It is Wales, dressed in slate grey, who get us going. They will be attacking from right to left for the first 40 minutes.
Right so. Time to get excited. The crowd are certainly excited. They give both sides a belter of a welcome before belting out the respective national anthems. Wales goes first, then we get Fiji’s, which is a jaunty little number. It’s then off with the tracksuit tops and on with the game, but not before the Cibi. Huzzah!
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Some last-minute reading for you, courtesy of my colleague, Paul Rees:
The Wales squad spent an evening this week with the unbeaten former world boxing champion Joe Calzaghe, as they prepared for Thursday evening’s encounter with Fiji in Cardiff. The match will not deliver a knockout blow in a group that also contains England and Australia, but victory for the men in red would leave the host nation having to defeat the Wallabies on Saturday to remain in their own tournament.
The Welsh players met Tom Jones before last Saturday’s victory at Twickenham – the singer had the message that it was not unusual for them to beat England – and Warren Gatland has spent the week ensuring that none of the euphoria that greeted the final whistle on Saturday night pollutes the preparation for what is an equally significant match. At the same time he has been preserving the emotional intensity that took an injury ravaged team over the line.
Gatland warned that if he noticed any slacking in training players would be pulled from the team. The head coach would also have reminded them that the past three meetings with Fiji at the Millennium Stadium have all been close: Wales won 11-10 with a late drop goal in 2005, drew 16-16 five years later and last November edged home 17-13 after failing to score a point in the second half.
One problem Gatland can do nothing about is the rash of injuries that have blighted his squad in the past month: five of his original World Cup 31 are out of the tournament, along with a replacement, all backs in a squad that contains 13, three of whom are scrum-halves and four outside-halves. He only has one specialist in each of the three-quarter positions, although three are Test Lions, and one of his two full‑backs, Matthew Morgan, who will start his first international on Thursday, plays at fly-half for his club.
“You seem to have a typo in your team lists,” reckons Robin Hazlehurst, “it says ‘James Hook’ among the Welsh replacements. Surely it can’t be that James Hook, because he was long since banished for unspeakable crimes against Warrenball (though nobody knows what they were). And even with the injury crisis, there must be several thousand punters in red shirts in the crowd who Gatland would rather pick than Hooky. Unless it’s a different James Hook of course, in which case, as you were.”
See ...
Did anyone else notice that Warren Gatland actually celebrated after the Wales win last Saturday? The man has won Six Nations, a Heineken Cup, even a Lions tour, and not even batting an eyelid. And yet there he was dancing on the pitch, like a teenager doing the Prodigy walk.
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Speaking – tangentially – of the England match against Wales the other day, what did anyone make of Sam Burgess and his performance? And was Gordon D’Arcy being a bit too hard in his column? Send your thoughts to the usual email address and in case you missed it, here are some sample quotes from the ex Ireland and Leinster centre:
Burgess lacks the sense of timing, in attack and defence, required to be effective at international level.
His naivety embarrassed those around him and severely damaged England’s chances of reaching the quarter-finals.
Stuart Lancaster picked a league convert who doesn’t know how to play inside-centre for the biggest match England have played since the 2007 World Cup final.
To compound the problem, Brad Barritt was out of position at 13 and exposed accordingly when it mattered most.
By picking Owen Farrell, Burgess and Barritt, England didn’t come to Twickenham to play rugby. We all knew this.
Burgess never got to the pace against Wales. He clearly bust a gut but effort and strength were never going to be enough. Barritt was arguably worse and badly exposed for the Gareth Davies try.
By then the Burgess experiment had been abandoned because the England coaching team accepted, long after everyone else, that he had no idea what was happening around him.
All Burgess did was run straight in search of collisions with Jamie Roberts (who obliged but really conned him most of the time).
Sam is a phenomenal athlete and clearly a fast learner. The damning question for Lancaster’s England is: why were these learning curves taking place in the pool of death’s must-win game?”
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The teams
Wales: Matthew Morgan; Alex Cuthbert, Tyler Morgan, Jamie Roberts, George North, Dan Biggar, Gareth Davies, Gethin Jenkins, Scott Baldwin, Tomas Francis, Bradley Davies, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton (captain), Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Ken Owens, Aaron Jarvis, Samson Lee, Luke Charteris, Justin Tipuric, Lloyd Williams, Rhys Priestland, Dr James Hook.
Fiji: Metuisela Talebula, Timoci Nagusa, Vereniki Goneva, Lepani Botia, Aseli Tikoirotuma, Ben Volavola, Nemia Kenatale; Campese Ma’afu, Sunia Koto, Manasa Saulo, Tevita Cavubati, Leone Nakarawa, Dominiko Waqaniburotu, Akapusi Qera (captain), Netani Talei.
Replacements: Viliame Veikoso, Peni Ravia, Leeroy Atalifo, Nemia Soqeta, Malakai Ravulo, Henry Seniloli, Joshua Matavesi, Kini Murimurivalu.
Or for those of you who prefer your teams in the picture format:
Less than two hours until #WALvFJI kicks off - see how the teams will line up #RWC2015 http://t.co/4QK40lpFIO pic.twitter.com/ggYmbjlHx7
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) October 1, 2015
Referee: John Lacey
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Good afternoon
When the Wales team got back to their hotel, got back to their beds and got back to thinking about what had just happened, they must have had a right good giggle to themselves. The type of giggle that comes with a generous helping of incredulity and wide-eyedness. What were England thinking going for the try when they had not missed a kick for the entire match? And then, what were they thinking playing it to the front of the lineout to Chris Robshaw instead of trying to run at a dilapidated Welsh defence? Didn’t Stuart Lancaster get a message to his side following that final Dan Biggar penalty that a draw was a much better than a defeat or that throwing your captain under the bus in the post-match interview is maybe not the best thing to do? Clearly not. Silly, silly boys. But to solely concentrate on England’s mistakes takes away from Wales’s performance. That try was magnificent – what about that kick from Lloyd Williams, eh? Woof! – and they were tactically intelligent, not to mention very, very brave.
The thing is, though, as good as that win was, this is still the group of death and Wales still have a lot to do before they can turn their back on Hades and run naked through the Elysian Fields like a couple of spring-heeled, care-free cherubs. And today’s match against Fiji, coming just a five days days after that win, is certainly not going to be an easy one for there is plenty to occupy Gatland’s mind. One area of concern for him and his coterie will be his forwards. In short, England dominated the scrum at Twickenham and even though Fiji do not have a reputation for the world’s best scrummagers, they still won all seven of their in their match against England and held their own against the Aussies.
The Wales coach might also be worried about the lineout. His side lost three (out of 13) from their own throws and for a side schooled in Gatlanomics, that just ain’t good enough. (Interestingly, after the mess of the England game, Fiji stole three consecutive lineouts from Australia.) And then there are the enforced changes from the injuries. In comes Matthew Morgan at full-back, Alex Cuthbert on the wing and Tyler Morgan in the centre. Matthew Morgan is making his Test debut; Tyler Morgan is just one-cap more experienced than him; and Alex Cuthbert is, well, Alex Cuthbert.
Saying all that, Wales – who will know that a bonus-point win will put them within sniffing distance of the quarter-finals – should be favourites to emerge victorious. Their cause will be helped by what has been a characteristic of Fiji’s play throughout this tournament: their indiscipline. They have had three players directed in the direction of the sin-bin in their first two matches. As well as this, Dominiko Waqaniburotu missed the match against Australia for that tip tackle on Jonny May and Nemani Nadolo – who has scored 16 of his side’s 24 points in the competition – will miss the match against Wales for the same offence. Silly, silly boys.
Despite that and despite the six changes enforced upon John McKee, this Fiji side will have 392 caps among them, making them the most experienced starting 15 to ever represent the island at a World Cup. That will worry Gatland, as will the presence of Timoci Nagusa. He is dangerous with the ball in hand and has repeatedly shown his ability to get over the line for Montpellier. He’d be even more worried if Fiji could cut out those concentration issues.
There have been some close encounters of the rugby kind between these two countries. Wales may have won eight times from their 10 Test encounters but, as Paul Rees pointed out in his preview to this match, needed “a late drop goal in 2005, drew 16-16 five years later and last November edged home 17-13 after failing to score a point in the second half.” There was also, least we forget, that game in the 2007 World Cup. You can be pretty sure there is not many in Wales who have forgotten about that, even after the evisceration in 2011.
Will Wales have enough in the tank to put a hurting on Fiji? Stay tuned to find out. Eighty intriguing minutes of World Cup rugby is almost upon us. Huzzah!
Kick-off: 4.45pm B to the S to the T.
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