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The Wales coach said you need to put in performances before wins – and this was a smart outing in the 39-24 bonus point victory
16:29, 04 Jul 2026Updated 16:45, 04 Jul 2026
Wales utilised their driving maul to huge effect(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)
“This could be close,” said a former Wales international ahead of kick-off. “Or it could be a Fiji blowout.”
As outrageous offload after offload stuck in the seconds following kick-off, you feared it could be the latter. Crucially, there was no third option. No Welsh dominance expected at a half-full Cardiff City Stadium.
That’s just where Welsh rugby is at the moment. Fiji were also ranked higher on their last visit to the Welsh capital, when they won in Cardiff for the first time, but this time around, they truly felt like favourites.
The word from Fiji’s camp this week is that they were perhaps as lean and mean as they’ve been for a Test match in a while.
Often it’s the preparation – or lack of it – that kills the Flying Fijians.
However, involvement in a Tier One tournament – as well as a Kava ban in camp – brought them into this one raring to go. And my word, did they start fast.
For three or four minutes, Fiji were threatening to be unstoppable. And then, for another 77 minutes, they were fun, but not exactly efficient.
How much of that was down to Wales’ defence, it’s hard to tell.
The problem is defending Fiji is a little like trying to keep hold of sand. The tighter you grip, the more it slips through your fingers.
For the first 40 minutes, Fiji played all the rugby. 25 offloads to Wales’ nil, 16 linebreaks to Wales’ nil, 468 metres made to Wales’ 66.
Steve Tandy’s side completed 92 tackles in that first-half. Another 33 slipped off.
And yet, even if Fiji were wasteful, they just about kept them at bay.
Buckle, don’t break. That’s what Shaun Edwards’ philosophy was.
Accept Fiji will have movements and react. For the most part, Wales’ defence under new coach Pete Murchie did that – even if Fiji’s final passes were sometimes more flamboyant than they needed to be.
Scores even at the break probably flattered Wales, but, to their credit, they boxed smart.
Two things were working; the scrum and the driving maul.
So they used them for Jac Morgan’s first try. Then, after Fiji tried to run it from deep once too often, they struck again – setting up Morgan for another effort from a lineout.
It did seem like it wasn’t going to be a day for Wales’ backline.
Every time Dan Edwards got near the ball, he was smashed back by either Josue Tuisova or Semi Radradra – yet back he came again and again.
The start of the second-half saw Wales’ backs finally get some purchase.
First, Blair Murray’s moment of brilliance from a kick return created space on the other flank for Rhys Carre – having been 50 metres behind the play at one stage at the end of the second-half – to force his way over.
Then, Josh Adams – having been described as “resilient” by Tandy in the week – refused to give up on a kick ahead by Joe Hawkins, sneaking in to score.
Nothing outrageous.
Perhaps that rattled the profligate Fijians, who hit back with two fairly straightforward scores to make it a one-score game heading into the final quarter.
Wales’ defence, not so great there.
Here’s the thing. With Fiji just one point behind, you feared that this one was going to go to form.
Wales had been pragmatic. They’d not been sucked into Fiji’s game. But, perhaps, for as clinical as they’d been, the ‘hosts’ were going to prove themselves the better side.
That’s the sad reality of Wales’ standings in world rugby right now.
Yet, when this one could so easily have gotten away from them, Wales continued to pitch it perfectly. The set-piece continued to be their friend, with another driving maul giving them an eight-point buffer.
They played in the right areas of the field – and were quick to rescue things when Fiji threatened to go coast-to-coast, with one Jac Morgan tackle on the elusive Salesi Rayasi.
One deft kick over the top by Tomos Williams to Sam Costelow was the perfect piece of play in the dying moments, putting Fiji on the backfoot.
From the following scrum, Eddie James powered over from Joe Hawkins’ tip-on to make it safe.
Tandy has said all along you can’t put results before performances. And while this wasn’t the prettiest of performances, it was an intelligent one.
And, crucially, that made it a winning one.
In the end, while a 15-point margin wasn’t exactly a blowout, it turns out there was a third option after all.
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