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Live Commentary
Time:80'- Wales
- Fiji
81' Here it is for Wales. Final effort. Phillips makes a dart from the scrum but Fiji turn it over! Wales have lost. Fiji have made the quarter-finals. What odds on that? Wales are out. A nation mourns while an island in the Pacific goes crazy! 38-34. An amazing day and an amazing match!
80' Little is down. Looks like a nasty knee injury. Wales cannot go for a lineout and opt for a scrum. One last chance for Wales!
80' Fiji forwards run down the clock, keeping the ball tight as the game reaches its last seconds. Time is up and Fiji concede penalty. What have the done - why did they not just kick for touch?- 79' Fiji win restart and their forwards keep it tight before feeding Little who find a safe touch 10m inside their own half. Wales in lineout and spread it wide to Jones on the left wing. But Fiji have turned it over!
77' Little slots conversion to make it 38-34. Wales now have to score a try with two minutes left. Can they respond yet again?
75' Fiji keeping the ball alive and Wales tackling for their lives now. Fiji into the Wales 22m area now and Delasau is over - or is he? Martyn Williams makes a stunning tackle! Ref Dickinson goes to the video official. Delasau was short but it looks like Fiji have scored!!! This is unbelievable! 36-34 to Fiji. A mighty effort from the Islanders.- 74' Jones hits the post, which means Fiji can still win this with a try. A draw is no good for them as they have an inferior points difference.
- 72' Rauluni puts up high ball and Wales knock on, allowing Fiji to launch an attack. But Martyn Williams intercepts, there is no Fiji defence and the Wales flanker runs from inside his own half to score. 34-31! Amazing.
- 71' Wales win lineout and Owen starts a drive. Phillips makes a huge kick that takes Wales into Fiji half!
- 71' Delasau makes a half break, Bai in support, he breaks two tackles and gets over - but he's just in touch as he touches down. Great effort but no try. Great tackle by Gareth Thomas. Phew for Wales!!!
- 69' Fiji scrum is struggling and they concede a freekick for feeding the ball. Owen takes a quick tap and Mark Jones makes a nice step in midfield, only for Fiji to turn the ball over.
- 67' Fiji forwards keeping the ball tight now and looking to regroup before what is certain to be a frantic last 10 minutes.
- 66' Wales spread the ball to the left wing and Jones kicks ahead and forces Fiji into running ball into touch on their own 22m line. Wales make a series of substitutions, win lineout and drive at the Fiji line. But they concede penalty and Little kicks Fiji down to halfway.
- 62' Fiji win lineout on their 22m line and Little finds a good touch about halfway. Less than 20 minutes to go as Wales throw is ruled not straight and Fiji awarded scrum. Wales penalised for pulling scrum around and Fiji launch another attack through Bai and Rabeni!
- 60' Little on target to put Fiji back into the lead at 31-29. Can Wales respond again? This is turning into a classic!
- 59' Great tackle from Charvis but Fiji keep the ball alive and Delasau almost breaks clear. Wales back to defend but they go over the top and concede a penalty.
58' Phillips on for Peel.- 56' Fiji recycle the ball and again Wales are caught offside. Difficult chance for Little and it comes up short.
- 55' Fiji forwards win restart and keep the ball tight before driving it 30m downfield. Well played.
- 53' Wales miss touch and then penalised for offside. Fiji awarded penalty and Little puts them within a point of Wales at 29-28. Bad touch miss by Wales!
- 52' Jones skots superb conversion from the touchline to make it 29-25. This is such a game of two halves!
- 51' Wales throw to the back of the lineout, Peel makes a superb dart, Popham supports, the ball is recycled and Hook puts Jones over in the right corner. Fabulous try! 27-25. Incredible turn around!
- 50' Great chip ahead from Thomas and Rauluni forced into making a very brave dive on the ball to prevent Hook from gathering with a free run ahead of him. Qera back on.
- 48' Wales score again! This time Thomas goes over from a decent set move. Good inside pass from Hook finds Jones, who feeds Thomas for his 40th international try on his 100th cap. Great moment from the skipper. 25-22.
- 46' Peel takes another quick tap from a Rabeni penalty for a high tackle. Scrum-half makes good ground but his pass failts to go to hand. But Wales win scrum down in Fiji 22m area. This is more like it from Wales, who will want another score before Qera comes back on.
- 45' Jones adds the conversion. 25-17.
- 44' Peel misses touch and Neivua comes crashing back at the Wales defence. Wales pinch ball and feed it to Williams on the right touchline who shows superb pace and footwork to score a brilliant solo try from 65m. Fabulous running by the flying wing! 25-15.
- 43' Hook caught by Rabeni, the Fijian steals the ball and Little puts a decent chip through - Wales win a 22m drop out.
- 42' Good pressure from Shanklin kick pins Fiji back on their own line. But decent clearance from Rauluni moves them back to their 22m line for a lineout.
41' Little gets the second half started. Can Wales respond? What will coach Gareth Jenkins have said to them in the interval? Huge 40 minutes for his side!- 40' Ref blows for half-time and Wales have it all to do in the second half. Could have done with another three points just before the break. But they have a one-man advantage for nearly 10 more minutes and the MUST make the most of it! Not a good half for Wales and we all know that Fiji are likely to score again!
40' Jones comes in to clean out Qera and he puts his knee up. Penalty to Wales and yellow card to Qera. Decent break for Wales but Hook pulls his kick. Amazing miss!- 38' Popham is down after what looks like a late tackle by Leawere! Ouch. Nasty tackle! Fiji lucky he's not been sin binned!
- 37' Nice tackle Popham on Little puts Fiji under pressure and leads to a poor kick from Fiji and Wales win possession.
- 35' Hook cuts Fiji lead by another two points with the conversion. Well kicked. Wales need all the points they can get! 25-10.
- 34' This time Wales drive Fiji back over their line and Popham has simple task of touching down. Good control by Popham. 25-8.
- 34' Fiji concede another penalty at the scrum. Wales opt for another scrum down. Fiji cannot afford to give another penalty away here or ref Dickinson will award a penalty try.
- 32' Wales just have to come away with a score! Again Little stops Popham, Williams is held up short and Rabeni puts in big hit on Jones - a centre driving a lock backwards! Wales recycle but they are held up 1m short of the line! Scrum Wales.
- 31' Great scrum from Wales and they win the put in. Little stops Popham but Fiji offside and Wales win another penalty. Wales players trying to get over all on their own now and it's looking scrappy as a result. Again Wales opt for the scrum!
- 30' Wales win lineout and drive takes them close, but Charvis is held up just short. Poor pass from Peel and Fiji win reprieve of a scrum in their 22m area. Another wasted opportunity from Wales!
- 29' Fiji concede another penalty - looks like Little high tackle on Shane Williams. This time Wales kick for the corner rather than take the points!
- 27' Fiji concede penalty in front of their posts but Wales opt for scrum instead of taking the three points! Poor decision. Take the points - there's plenty of time left! Wales win scrum and the move comes to nothing.
- 26' Little adds two more points to make it 25-3. Is this really happening? Yes it is and Fiji deserve every point!
- 25' Fiji again open up the Wales defence, Qera goes straight through. Fiji almost make a mess of it but the ball is recycled and Leawere crashes over. Amazing stuff. 23-3!
- 24' Little on target as Wales go 18-3 down.
- 22' Thomas slices the ball and Fiji awarded lineout just outside Wales' 22m area. Lovely pick and driving by Fiji forwards and again Rabeni probes around the fringes and wins another penalty! Fiji winning all the battles at the moment and Rabeni in unbelievable form!
- 21' Wales concede penalty and Little has a pop from near halfway and over it goes! 15-3. Sensational opening for Fiji, who have stunned the Welsh!
- 19' Rabeni again makes space after a lovely floated pass from Little. The ball reaches Delasau on the wing, he kicks ahead and takes a good bounce to touch down. Sensational take from Delasau! 12-3.
- 17' Little adds the conversion. 7-3.
- 16' Fiji on the attack now, Rabeni asking questions of the Wales defence and finally Qera finds a hole to score the game's first try. Wonderful interplay between the forwards and backs. Great try! 5-3.
- 11' Rabeni puts in big hit on Gareth Thomas but he's penalised. Peel takes quick tap and Wales kick for the corner. Wrong option as Fiji touch down for a 22m drop out.
- 8' Fiji knock on at the lineout and then concede penalty at the scrum. Wales opt for goal but this time Jones hits the post and Fiji earn a scrum when Shanklin knocks on the rebound.
- 6' Fiji win their lineout and Rabeni tries to crash through Wales midfield. But the defence is good and Wales steal the ball and Gareth Thomas kicks upfield into Fiji 22. Wales lineout 5m from Fiji try-line.
- 4' Quick tap from Martyn Williams and he finds Hook in support. Fiji concede penalty and Wales have an early chance. Stephen Jones on target to give Wales a great start. 3-0.
- 2' Great break from Stephen Jones and the ball is fed to Mark Jones, but he is tackled just short of the Fiji line. Ball is recycled and spread wide to Shane Williams on the other wing and he is also hauled down as he reaches over.
1' Stephen Jones gets us underway. Fiji take the kick well and Rauluni puts over an early kick which Rabeni takes well.
- A quarter-final spot at stake against South Africa for the winner of today's game, so there is all to play for. Both sides have named their strongest possible line-ups with Wales skipper Gareth Thomas becoming the first Welshman to win 100 caps.
- It's a fine afternoon at Stade de la Beajoire and perfect for a running game, which will certain the athletic Fijians.- - Good afternoon and welcome to the winner-takes-all Pool B clash from nantes between Wales and Fiji.
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Summary
Wales versus Fiji Popham 35’, Williams 44’, Thomas 48’, Jones 51’, Williams 73’ Tries Qera 16’, Delasau 19’, Leawere 25’, Dewes 77’ Hook 35’, Jones 45’, 51’ Conversions Little 16’, 25’, 77’ Jones 5’ Penalties Little 21’, 24’, 54’, 60’ Drops
Live Team Line-Up
- Referee: Stuart Dickinson
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WalesManager: Gareth Jenkins
On the Field
- Jenkins
- Rees
- Horsman
- Jones
- Evans
- Charvis
- Williams
- Popham
- Peel
- Jones
- Williams
- Hook
- Shanklin
- Jones
- Thomas
Subs
- James
- Gough
- Owen
- Jones
- Phillips
- Thomas
- Robinson
Injured
None
Suspended
None
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FijiManager: Ilivasi Tabua
On the Field
- Dewes
- Koto
- Railomo
- Leawere
- Rawaqa
- Naevo
- Qera
- Koyamaibole
- Raulini
- Little
- Naivua
- Bai
- rabeni
- Delasau
- Ratuvou
Subs
- Ligairi
- Bobo
- Ratuva
- Sauturaga
- Qiodravu
- Lewaravu
- Dunivucu
Injured
None
Suspended
None
- Dewes
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