Fiji 24, Wales 39: Wales overcome Fiji as record-low Cardiff crowd misses thriller

Simon Thomas

Much will be made of the attendance – and understandably so – but those who did turn up would have been well entertained as Wales opened their Nations Championship campaign with a notable bonus point victory.

The crowd figure was 16,465 which meant the 33,000-capacity Cardiff City Stadium was just less than half full with swathes of empty seats around the ground.

That’s the lowest attendance for an international involving Wales in Cardiff in living memory, with no-one in the media room able to pinpoint a smaller figure.

There were various contributory factors to consider and more on that later.

But what you can say is those who stayed away missed a compelling contest.

There were nine tries in all, six of those from Wales as they claimed the scalp of a team two places above them in the world rankings.

It was also a thoroughly fascinating contrast in styles.

There was the trademark Fijian flair as the islanders played as only they can, looking to keep the ball in hand and attack at every opportunity, producing some dazzling running and handling.

Then there was the more prosaic approach from Wales who relied heavily on their set-piece, with the scrum on top and the lineout maul producing three tries.

At times, they were run ragged by their opponents, as the extraordinary first half stats reveal.

Wales missed no fewer than 31 tackles in the opening period, compared with just three by Fiji.

Yet, somehow, the men in red managed to cling on and go in all square 10-10 at the interval.

Then, straight after the break, they got their noses in front with two tries in three minutes – the second of those a real opportunist effort from Josh Adams – and they managed to stay ahead, sealing the outcome with two final quarter scores.

That’s now three wins on the trot for Steve Tandy’s team after victories over Italy and the Barbarians and a welcome change of narrative after the struggles of the past two years.

It was also an upbeat end to a turbulent week which had seen the Welsh squad embroiled in a dispute with the WRU over match fees.

That was hardly the ideal preparation, but to their credit the players put it behind them and thoroughly earned whatever figure they had settled upon.

There is still plenty of work to be done, particularly on the defensive front, with hugely tough tests to come over the next two weeks away to Argentina and South Africa.

But they can travel in decent spirits having taken another step forward and crucially secured another win.

On the individual front, Jac Morgan was back to his best after something of a quiet return to the international scene against the Barbarians.

He picked up two tries as he expertly finished off a brace of lineout drives, while he was also the game’s top tackler with 17 and a real presence at the breakdown as he earned the Player of the Match award.

His back row pal Aaron Wainwright was as dynamic as ever, while Blair Murray was their most threatening runner behind, with Ben Carter putting in another big shift in the second row amid a highly effective display from the front five.

Chasing shadows

It was scary at times, with the way they found themselves chasing shadows and grasping at thin air, but importantly they found a way and got the victory. After everything the team has been through over the past couple of years, it must be a very nice feeling to suddenly have the winning habit.

As for the occasion as a whole, it was something of an odd fixture with Fiji being the hosts but the game being played in a football ground in Cardiff.

The Fijians have opted to play their three home Nations Championship fixtures in the UK with Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium and Murrayfield the setting for matches against England and Scotland over the coming two weeks.

That’s because their own national stadium doesn’t meet competition requirements, while commercial factors were also considered in terms of maximising ticket sales.

They are looking to raise the money to build a 25,000 seater stadium in Suva, which they hope will be up and running by 2030, so the revenue accrued this month will be vital.

With that in mind, they would probably have been banking on a bigger crowd for this opener.

So what were the reasons for the disappointing attendance?

Well, there are various factors you can pinpoint.

People are not really in rugby mode at the moment, with the football World Cup taking centre stage and the weather being more attuned to cricket.

There were also two big concerts taking place in Cardiff, while there also wasn’t as much publicity for the fixture as there would have been if it had been a WRU home game.

Then, of course, there’s the residual impact of Wales having struggled so badly results-wise over the past couple of years, with just two wins in 27 Tests prior to the Six Nations victory over Italy in March.

Nevertheless, despite the ground being only half full, there was still a really good atmosphere and the supporters increasingly bought into the fluctuating contest and to the rugby on display.

If you were looking for a reminder that this was indeed Fiji’s home game it was provided in the unique build up, with the animated stadium announcer, the traditional dancers in grass skirts and the brightly clad choir.

There were also a good number of Fijian fans in the crowd which greatly added to the occasion and they didn’t have to wait long for something to cheer.

The South Sea islanders set their stall out immediately, attacking straight from the kick-off and they opened the scoring with a sparkling try inside four minutes.

Fijian flair

It was the epitome of Fijian flair as they countered from deep with a sweeping move seeing three offloads including a pop pass off the deck from scrum-half Frank Lomani which allowed grey-bearded flanker Pita-Gus Sowakula to gallop over.

Wales’ response provided a prompt summary of the contrasts between the two sides.

For them, the set piece was their prime weapon and that was reflected by their own opening score.

Winning a scum penalty enabled them to kick to the corner and from there they unfurled a lineout maul drive which brought a first try for flanker Morgan.

After weathering a storm on their own line – which saw winger Selestino Ravutaumada just lose control of the ball as he dived for the corner – it was then a repeat performance for their second try as the half hour approached.

This time it was a tackle-jackal by Eddie James on Semi Radradra – who was sadly injured in the incident – that earned the penalty which was sent into the corner.

Then it was same again from a Carter lineout take as Morgan rounded off a well controlled maul drive.

The Fijians continued to do their thing in mesmerising fashion, stepping, breaking tackles and offloading, with Bordeaux-Begles full-back Salesi Rayasi in particular running riot, even audaciously passing the ball between his legs in the build-up to the near miss from Ravutaumada.

Time and again, they split open the Welsh defence, repeatedly breaking through with a potent combination of pace, power and footwork, complemented by exquisite handling and astute support play.

It was just such a scintillating passage that earned them the penalty with which they tied the scores up at the break.

Given the pretty one-sided flow of the first half, it was somewhat remarkable that the try count should be two-one in Wales’ favour.

Within six minutes of the resumption, that count was four-one as they struck twice in quick succession.

First, the back three of Murray, Louis Rees-Zammit and Adams all played their part ahead of Rhys Carre forcing his way over, with the prolific prop celebrating by “Doing the Ayatollah” in tribute to the sporting setting.

Then came that piece of opportunism from arch poacher Adams.

After Joe Hawkins had kicked to the corner, there seemed little danger as Ravutaumada shepherded the ball while it rolled towards the dead ball line.

But that was the cue for Adams to show the value of never giving up and never stopping chasing as he dived in between the legs of the Fijian winger to dab the ball down just before it went out.

The unfortunate Ravutaumada simply hadn’t seen him coming.

It was reminiscent of the match winning score from Rob Howley in the 2004 Heineken Cup final when he beat Toulouse’s Clement Poitrenaud to the ball to secure Wasps the trophy.

It meant Wales now had a 12 point lead, but there were still plenty of twists to come in this intriguing battle.

Back came Fiji as they claimed a lineout drive try of their own through No 8 Elia Canakaivata ahead of Ravutaumada redeeming himself somewhat by capitalising on an overlap created with indecent ease.

That made it a one score game, but it was to be the Welsh set-piece which sealed the outcome.

First replacement Ryan Elias got on the end of another patiently built lineout maul and then, in the final play, James combined with co-centre Hawkins to stretch over off a strong scrum.

By the closing stages, the Welsh fans were fully engaged and getting behind the team with a chorus of ‘Hymns and Arias’ ringing out.

Hopefully, the improving fortunes of the national team will see significantly bigger crowds when they return to Cardiff in the autumn.