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Former NRL star Semi Radradra dropped the ball with the try line open to end Fiji’s hopes of a sensational comeback win over Wales in the best game of the Rugby World Cup so far.
Wales hung on 32-26 in an epic struggle but many fans and pundits were furious with English referee Matt Carley, with accusations of bias towards the tier 1 Welsh against the islanders.
Ben Ryan, who coached Fiji’s sevens team to a gold medal in Rio, led the chorus of disapproval.
The complaints were focussed on Carley’s decision to give Fiji’s Lekima Tagitagivalu a yellow card but let the Welsh off with several warnings for infringements near their line in the second half.
Not all agreed, of course.
Fiji came home strongly but didn’t execute at crucial times and coach Simon Raiwalui was gracious in defeat.
“We dropped a couple of balls over the tryline, a couple of disallowed tries, so we had opportunities and a chance to score at the end with the pass to win it. Wales had a couple of opportunities off our defensive errors and scored a couple of tries, and that was the difference. We’ve got a lot of things to work on,” he said.
“The boys worked very hard today, the back row were really good, we just made mistakes in critical moments. We didn’t take those opportunities when we could have extended the lead and we were left to chase it at the end.”
The Fijians looked crushed after Radradra’s error.
Waisea Nayacalevu, captain
On his reaction to defeat:
“It’s a tough one. We are really disappointed because we put a massive amount of effort in and credit to the boys, we worked hard until the end,” said skipper Waisea Nayacalevu.
“That last pass, man…it’s quite hard but we have got to learn from that and move on to next week.”
After losing six of eight internationals in 2023, Wales will hope the victory offers some redemption and breathes life into a beleaguered squad.
Both teams scored four tries in a game full of line breaks, exciting running and bruising clashes that had the crowd on the edge of their seats, especially at the end as Fiji fought back from 32-14 down.
Josh Adams, George North, Louis Rees-Zammit and Elliot Dee crossed for Wales, with Dan Biggar adding two penalties and three conversions.
Fiji’s try-scorers were Waisea Nayacalevu, Lekima Tagitagivalu, Josua Tuisova and Mesake Doge.
The Wallabies are next up for Fiji, with the teams due to meet at Saint-Etienne’s Stade Geoffroy-Guichard at 1.45am on September 18 (AEST), while Wales take on Portugal the previous day.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.