Nations Championship
- Jac Morgan named player of the match after scoring two tries and producing a brilliant defensive display.
- Second-half tries by Rhys Carre, Josh Adams, Ryan Elias and Eddie James showcased Wales' fitness and finishing.
- Fiji dominated attacking metrics, but Wales contained them; set-piece superiority yielded three driving-maul tries under coach Steve Tandy.
- Disappointing crowd of 16,456 at Cardiff City Stadium (capacity over 33,000) denied Wales a fuller celebration.
Fiji (10) 24
Tries: Sowakula, Canakaivata, Ravutaumada Cons: Armstrong-Ravula 3 Pen: Armstrong-Ravula
Wales (10) 39
Tries: Morgan 2, Carre, Adams, Elias, James Cons: Edwards, Costelow 2 Pen: Edwards
Six-try Wales recorded consecutive international wins for the first time in three years by defeating Fiji 39-24 in their Nations Championship opener at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Two tries from flanker Jac Morgan allowed Wales somehow to keep a rampant Fiji side to 10-10 at half-time.
Wales showed their fitness by scoring second-half tries from prop Rhys Carre, wing Josh Adams, hooker Ryan Elias and centre Eddie James.
Fiji managed tries from flanker Pita Gus Sowakula, number eight Elia Canakaivata and wing Selestino Ravutaumada, with fly-half Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula kicking nine points.
Wales followed up the Six Nations win against Italy at the Principality Stadium in March to win back-to-back Tests for the first time since the 2023 World Cup.
Morgan was named player of the match for his two-try exploits and brilliant defensive display.
Fiji dominated the attacking statistics but Wales managed to contain them, while their set-piece superiority resulted in three of the six tries coming from driving mauls as head coach Steve Tandy’s gameplan proved successful.
Wales scored six tries in a game for the first time in a Test for five years, with Fiji also the opponent on that occasion.
Wales will now travel to face Argentina and South Africa, while Fiji face England at the Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool and Scotland at Murrayfield.
The only negative for Wales was that the match was played in front of a disappointing crowd of 16,456 in the first rugby international played at Cardiff City’s football stadium which has a capacity of more than 33,000.
This victorious Wales side, who beat a team two places above them in the world rankings, deserved to have celebrated that success in front of more fans.
The first-half attacking disparity between the two sides was demonstrated with Fiji having 25 offloads, 104 carries and 469 metres made compared with 0, 322 and 66 for Wales.
But Tandy’s side demonstrated how to be clinical early in the second half when breaks from Murray and scrum-half Tomos Williams were finished off by Carre, who scored a fourth try in five internationals.
Fiji were rocked and following a speculative Hawkins kick, Ravutaumada was inexplicably caught napping by Adams as he picked the pocket of his opposite number to score.
Fiji responded with a driving try of their own, Canakaivata going over, before Edwards restored the advantage to more than one score with a first penalty.
Wales coughed up possession from the kick-off and when the ball went wide, Ravutaumada made amends by sprinting over to score to reduce the deficit to one point.
Tandy made a raft of replacements, including a first cap for Ospreys prop Ben Warren, and the Welsh bench made a crucial impact.
Fellow replacement Elias was driven over, with fly-half Sam Costelow converting.
It was left to the Scarlets centre partnership to finish the victory with Hawkins setting up James.
