Fiji

[Jocky]

What a fucking game. Well done boys.

[Sandydragon]

What a fucking game. Well done boys.

Game of the tournament so far. I think over 80mins we just deserved that but we really did ride our luck.

Portugal next up. Think a few of our first choice players will need some rest after that.

But Dillon Lewis is never a player I want to see come off the bench.

[normanski]

Understatement of the night, Hammy!

[pompey-zebra]

Lots still to work on but got the win and the bonus point. I could have done without the near heart attack though

[Sandydragon]

Lots still to work on but got the win and the bonus point. I could have done without the near heart attack though

Considering that many thought we would lose, I’ll take any win. A BP is a real cherry on top but the tension at the end I can definitely do without.

[Sandydragon]

Gatland, ‘we made some dumb decisions in the last 15’.

Can’t argue that some of our players are missing some intelligence at times.

[pompey-zebra]

Lots still to work on but got the win and the bonus point. I could have done without the near heart attack though

Considering that many thought we would lose, I’ll take any win. A BP is a real cherry on top but the tension at the end I can definitely do without.

In those last seconds, I thought we'd lose!

[Sourdust]

It sounds silly even as I type it, but I'm not sure any other team is going to come at us quite that hard in the next few weeks. I felt like turning the sound down at times.

[normanski]

Well that was easy

A real learning lesson for the squad which should stand them in good stead for the Australia game. Would be good if Fiji vent their spleen against Oz and kick the sh*t out of them.

[J Dory]

Bigger needs to STFU. He's better than this.

He really isn't

He's no Gareth Anscombe.

[pompey-zebra]

Well that was easy

A real learning lesson for the squad which should stand them in good stead for the Australia game. Would be good if Fiji vent their spleen against Oz and kick the sh*t out of them.

A low scoring but highly physical draw might do.

[morepork]

That knock on at the end.....fucking heartbreaker. Melanesian/Polynesian cultural commentary cliche should be put to bed BTW. It's beyond getting old.

[UKHamlet]

Well that was easy

A real learning lesson for the squad which should stand them in good stead for the Australia game. Would be good if Fiji vent their spleen against Oz and kick the sh*t out of them.

I want Oz to win narrowly though

[UKHamlet]

Fiji were supposed to win that game. They nearly did but in sport nearly is not enough. Wales did enough over the eighty to win. It should have been more comfortable but again in sport should have doesn't often win games. I'm relatively happy to win dirty and at the same time we played some really good rugby against a confident side coming off the back of crushing England at Twickenham. Fiji will get the plaudits from the Wales haters, but we got the W and that's all that matters.

[Sourdust]

Fiji were supposed to win that game. They nearly did but in sport nearly is not enough. Wales did enough over the eighty to win. It should have been more comfortable but again in sport should have doesn't often win games. I'm relatively happy to win dirty and at the same time we played some really good rugby against a confident side coming of the back of crushing England at Twickenham. Fiji will get the plaudits from the Wales haters, but we got the W and that's all that matters.

Every word of that.

Lap up the hate, guys, this is what winning feels like.

JFC, look at these stats...

https://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/matchstats ... gue=164205

[Son of Mathonwy]

Well that was easy

A real learning lesson for the squad which should stand them in good stead for the Australia game. Would be good if Fiji vent their spleen against Oz and kick the sh*t out of them.

That would be fun but what we really need is for Fiji to lose 2 matches so there's no chance they can outscore us in the group with their 2 points from this match.

[Sourdust]

That would be fun but what we really need is for Fiji to lose 2 matches so there's no chance they can outscore us in the group with their 2 points from this match.

A very fair point but it is going to be utterly impossible to cheer Australia against Fiji.

[Zhivago]

That was the most stressful game I've watched for a while. Why do we always seem to draw Fiji. Honestly thought we'd lose it at the end there, have a bit of PTSD from previous last minute losses.

[Sourdust]

That was the most stressful game I've watched for a while. Why do we always seem to draw Fiji. Honestly thought we'd lose it at the end there, have a bit of PTSD from previous last minute losses.

It was very much Paris 2021 in that last 10. We were hanging on heroically but getting pinged off the park. This time, it didn't get us reduced to 13 men, which would have been curtains. The fuss about the two yellows that WERE given is so much BS, but I think Fiji have a legitimate claim that we should have been down to 14 in the last 5 minutes.

It was still a hugely positive performance but we're developing an alarming habit of losing our heads late on. The game-management was excellent for the majority of the match, but bizarrely non-existent for the last 5 minutes of each half.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Fiji were supposed to win that game. They nearly did but in sport nearly is not enough. Wales did enough over the eighty to win. It should have been more comfortable but again in sport should have doesn't often win games. I'm relatively happy to win dirty and at the same time we played some really good rugby against a confident side coming of the back of crushing England at Twickenham. Fiji will get the plaudits from the Wales haters, but we got the W and that's all that matters.

Every word of that.

Lap up the hate, guys, this is what winning feels like.

JFC, look at these stats...

https://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/matchstats ... gue=164205

The Fijians will feel a bit aggrieved at the difference in speed at which the yellow came out for both teams, also one of those disallowed tries. But then he ignored Fijians popping up in scrums and was fairly pissed off at us at the end (and who can blame him?).

Anyway who cares about that, we won. We built a big enough cushion that even our inevitable composure jettison wasn't enough to lose the match.

Crazy stats. Crazy to win with so little possession and territory. We defended to victory. Who was MOTM? Should have been Tompkins - he made two tries. Jesus, Rowlands, 27 tackles, none missed, immense. Sanjay had a great game too (if we ignore that kick at the end).

[Son of Mathonwy]

That would be fun but what we really need is for Fiji to lose 2 matches so there's no chance they can outscore us in the group with their 2 points from this match.

A very fair point but it is going to be utterly impossible to cheer Australia against Fiji.

True. My head and heart will be drawn so hard in different directions that I'll probably snap.

[Sourdust]

The Fijians will feel a bit aggrieved at the difference in speed at which the yellow came out for both teams,

Not just the Fijians - this is the point that's driving me nuts in all the online whingeing.

Tagitagivalu pulled down a rolling maul. That's a straight yellow. It's irrelevant how many pens Wales had conceded up to that point. Domachowski was yellowed for the very next technical infringement, in accordance with the warning Wales had been given.

There's a much better case, IMO, for a second persistent infringement YC in the dying minutes. We were lucky there. I also think the "double-movement" call was... marginal, at best.

But FFS the amount of "biased ref screws Fiji" bumgravy is off the scale. A ref who is biased in favour of a particular team generally doesn't award 17 penalties against said team... or is that just me?

[Sourdust]

Who was MOTM? Should have been Tompkins - he made two tries.

It was a very Tompkins performance, wasn't it? Conspicuously awful for 2 minutes, quietly excellent for 78.

[Puja]

That knock on at the end.....fucking heartbreaker. Melanesian/Polynesian cultural commentary cliche should be put to bed BTW. It's beyond getting old.

Made worse by the fact that the big bouncing miss pass didn't even need to be flung. A short pop to Nayacalevu would've seen him walking over under the posts.

Puja

[bruce]

The Fijians will feel a bit aggrieved at the difference in speed at which the yellow came out for both teams,

Not just the Fijians - this is the point that's driving me nuts in all the online whingeing.

Tagitagivalu pulled down a rolling maul. That's a straight yellow. It's irrelevant how many pens Wales had conceded up to that point. Domachowski was yellowed for the very next technical infringement, in accordance with the warning Wales had been given.

There's a much better case, IMO, for a second persistent infringement YC in the dying minutes. We were lucky there. I also think the "double-movement" call was... marginal, at best.

But FFS the amount of "biased ref screws Fiji" bumgravy is off the scale. A ref who is biased in favour of a particular team generally doesn't award 17 penalties against said team... or is that just me?

Fiji were lucky it wasn't a penalty try. They weren't stopping that maul.