Rugby World Cup: Wallabies survive Fiji fright in Sapporo
Outplayed and out-thought in the first hour by a dangerous Fijian team that got a huge lift from ex-Parramatta try-scoring machine Semi Radradra, Australia developed a serious case of stage fright in Sapporo.
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Australia's World Cup campaign is still alive after they threatened to give their long suffering supporters a heart attack by nearly tripping up at the first hurdle.
Outplayed and out-thought in the first hour by a dangerous Fijian team that got a huge lift from former Parramatta Eels try-scoring machine Semi Radradra, the Wallabies developed a serious case of stage fright before they finally worked out what everyone else in the Sapporo Dome stadium and watching at home already knew.
As noble as it is that the Wallabies intend to play an expansive running game, the reality is they’re just not as good at it as they think and are far more effective when they swallow their pride and take the less spectacular but more reliable direct approach.
The moment they did that against Fiji, the contest was as good as over as the floodgates opened and the Wallabies piled on 27 unanswered points to win their Pool D opener and all but assure themselves of making the quarter-finals even before next week’s crunch match with Wales.
NERVOUS START
For a team that has just spent the best part of three months together, the Wallabies looked they were meeting each other on a Tinder date during a clueless start to the match.
Missed tackles, missed kicks, missed passes and missed opportunities - the Wallabies had the lot, and that was just inside the first 10 minutes.
Too many players got isolated and threw passes that weren’t on as the Wallabies tried to play Fiji at their own game, going wide too often too early when what they really needed to do was build some pressure.
BAD DECISIONS
It was the Pacific Islanders, who are better known for their improvisation than patience, that played the smarter rugby, opening the scoring with a penalty when Nic White got pinged for not releasing then scoring the first try when Peceli Yato crashed through some poor tackling to score out wide.
Down 8-0 after 23 minutes, the penny finally dropped for the Wallabies and they started attacking from closer in.
Michael Hooper forced his way through three defenders to score from close range then Reece Hodge dived over in the corner after another sustained build-up to cut the margin to 14-12 at half-time.
BETTER COMPOSURE
A poor pass from Samu Kerevi gifted Fiji a 21-12 lead when Waisea Nayacalevu ran half the length of the field to score but that was the last brain explosion from the Australians for the match.
Tolu Latu was the recipient of two tries off the back of rolling mauls that earned him the man of the match award while Kerevi made up for his earlier blunder with a try and Marika Koroibete gave a hint of what he can do when he gets in space with a flashy touchdown.
STRONG SUPPORT
The Wallabies might be on the nose with the rugby-loving public back home with few fans bothering to go to their matches these days but they turned out in massive numbers in Japan.
The stadium was a sea of gold jerseys as thousands of Wallaby supporters made the trip to Japan, all breathing a sigh of relief after the team’s escape.
Head coach Michael Cheika faces some tricky decisions before next week’s clash with Wales with several starting players underperforming and all the kickers having problems while everyone who came off the bench played strongly to push their claims for a spot in the run on side.
Originally published as Rugby World Cup: Wallabies survive Fiji fright in Sapporo