Wallabies 28 Fiji 13: Australia start Rugby World Cup campaign with scratchy win but no bonus point

TWO first-half tries and a dominant performance from David Pocock helped the Wallabies kick off their World Cup campaign with a scratchy win over Fiji.

Australia v Fiji - Group A: Rugby World Cup 2015

TWO first-half tries and a dominant performance from David Pocock helped the Wallabies kick off their World Cup campaign with a scratchy win over Fiji.

Pocock scored a double off two rolling mauls late in the opening half and a third by prop Sekope Kepu two minutes after the break did enough to see off the adventurous Fijian side in Cardiff.

But the Wallabies went without a potentially crucial bonus point after failing to score a fourth try in the second half, when their attack and set-piece fell away.

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The Fijians were expected to tire late in the game in their second game in five days but they kept up their free-wheeling attack and got within 12 points with 20 minutes to go.

Sekope Kepu goes over to score the Wallabies third try of the night.

With their lineout work wobbling, Australia appeared so concerned about simply winning the game they opted to kick a penalty goal through Bernard Foley in the 69th minute to secure the game, instead of pushing for a fourth try.

With all teams in the pool of death now having played at least one game, Australia sit in the dreaded third spot given England and Wales both secured bonus points against Fiji and Uruguay respectively.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said he was no fazed about not pocketing a fourth try and a five point win.

“We haven’t thought about that. It is not Super Rugby, this is the World Cup,” Cheika said.

“One game at a time, just win each game. I hadn’t thought about it to be honest. In fact I had to ask the question whether they (bonus points) were in it, at the start.

Israel Folau was a constant threat in a dominant first half for Australia.

“What you have to do is just play well every game. That’s one game, yes, improvements to make but we move on to the next now.

“I thought it was a really good game. It was a really good work out for us, it was physical, we covered a lot of metres, I think you could see at a certain stage in the second half there it was our first game for a while, guys were blowing a bit. It was exactly what we needed.

“I was really pleased with some of the things in the performances.”

Pocock, who made 16 tackles and had three turnovers, was named man of the match in only his second game at No.8.

“It was good to get the win,” he said.

“Credit to Fiji for backing up after four days with a performance like that. Both teams looked to use the ball and it was pretty exciting to watch.”

The Wallabies led 18-3 at halftime after a competitive opening period, in front of a 67,253 crowd, that saw the scores locked at 3-3 for the first 25 minutes.

The Pocock-Hooper combination, reunited for the first time since the Sydney Bledisloe win, immediately made its presence felt with dogged defence and breakdown pressure.

Pocock and Michael Hooper formed a fearsome defensive blockade.

The Wallabies had good territory advantage early but didn’t convert after dropping the ball several times.

Foley ended up taking first points when Matt Giteau was tackled without the ball in the ninth minute but Fiji used their forward pack to get back into the game.

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A mighty scrum battle began to unfold, with two scrums running for nearly 15 seconds. They won the second, and used their rolling maul to build pressure on Australia’s line.

Nemani Nadolo evened the scores in the 20th minute with a penalty but a high tackle by the big winger saw the Wallabies return to the Fiji red zone and Stephen Moore pushed for tries by kicking penalties into the corners.

The first Pocock try came in the 26th minute from a line out and snaking rolling maul, and after Campese Ma’afu was sin-binned for cynical play soon after, Moore pushed to the corner again.

And again a rolling maul off the line out saw Pocock set up as tail gunner, and again find his way to the line — just as he did so well for the Brumbies during the year.

The rolling maul looks likes it breaks obstruction laws all day but it appears World Cup authorities have decided any review will be after the tournament.

A brilliant Matt Giteau cover tackle on Nadolo — and steal by Folau — saw off a Fiji chance before the break, and Foley added another penalty in the 37th minute to push the lead out even further.

Sustained attacking pressure early in the second half saw gaps appear in the Fijian defence and Kepu slipped through to score a third.

A big win appeared a formality but Australia dropped off, kicking possession away and failing to secure their own ball at attacking rucks.

Fiji clawed back a penalty through Nadolo and Australia couldn’t build any pressure in their opponents’ half. One decent chance on the Fiji line saw three line outs lost in a row and former Waratah Ben Volavola made it nervy for the Wallabies by scoring a try by dummying through the Australian defence in the 59th minute.

After bossing the first half Australia let Fiji back in to the contest after the break.

Foley kicked a penalty in the 69th minute and when Tevita Kuridrani was sin-binned in the 72nd minute, the Wallabies’ chances of scoring a fourth try slipped away.

Wallabies captain Stephen Moore complimented Fiji on their effort.

“Fiji played really well, we haven’t played them in a number of years and they have certainly improved a lot in that period. Full credit to them,” Moore said.

“I was happy with our guys performances, it was a good effort, we haven’t played for a few weeks so we have plenty to work on for our next Test.”

Originally published as Wallabies 28 Fiji 13: Australia start Rugby World Cup campaign with scratchy win but no bonus point