Key events
There’s literally only one Wallaby receiving any praise from the panel of former internationals on the host broadcaster’s coverage, and that’s Len Ikitau.
As Harry Wilson takes the Vuvale bowl over to his teammates my mind flashes back to Harry Potter’s studs on the whitewash that denied Fiji what – at the time – felt like a decisive score. So so tough on the visitors.
There are a few injuries to keep an eye on, most notably Noah Lolesio, who left the field on a stretcher in a neck brace. James Slipper passed an HIA but looked troubled by a shoulder injury. Dave Porecki failed an HIA and will now be a doubt for the first Test against the Lions.
What did we learn? That the Wallabies are a dangerous, dynamic side with front-foot ball. The vaunted centres combination looks very good. Defensively they were disciplined and did well to withstand a number of repeat-phase Fijian attacks. In attack they are being drilled to kick early and turn their opposing wingers.
However, there was a long spell in the second-half when nobody looked like taking charge and the game was drifting inexorably towards the visitors. Australia are ranked eighth in the world for a reason.
The Lions brains trust will have left Newcastle happier than they arrived.
To borrow a phrase, that was a game of two halves. Australia dominated the first, but the more Fiji grew into the contest the more confident they became and by the end they will feel aggrieved that they didn’t seal what would have been a deserved victory.
It wasn’t a great advertisement for Test rugby with both sides guilty of poor handling errors, compounding early season rustiness. French referee Brousset was far too visible, especially at set-pieces, making the game unwatchably stop-start in passages.
Full-time: Australia 21-18 Fiji
The Wallabies survive an almighty scare in Newcastle.
79 mins: Fiji are frustrated the try was called so quickly after replays indicated there was doubt over the grounding.
CONVERTED TRY! Australia 21-18 Fiji (Wilson, 79)
Another safe throw. This time the maul gets some momentum. White heads down the short side. Two sides camped on the Fijian line. This is a siege! Pick-and-go after pick-and-go – and finally Wilson busts his way over! He hits the line with his back to the tacklers, spins, and celebrates!
The conversion is unmissable.
77 mins: The lineout is secured. The maul forms – but it’s not going anywhere! White goes to Daugunu to start a series of one-out drives 20, then 15m from the line. Australia penalty! Another Fijian playing off his feet. Back to the 5m lineout.
76 mins: Penalty advantage Australia 40m from home – the kick goes to the right corner. A match-defining phase of play is on its way.
75 mins: Australia secure their throw on halfway and rumble a maul 10, now 15 metres before White goes to his backs.
74 mins: There are exhausted players down all over the place – mostly Fijians – with cramp spreading.
73 mins: Jorgensen marks the high ball inside his 22 then kicks to halfway. The ball hits the deck off the lineout but Fiji are hungrier on the ground and secure the loose pill. Then they gain ground with a series of phases that take them to the right, then the left, with Australia unable to interrupt the momentum. Matavesi takes them to the 22, then Tuisue chips into the line. 15 phases becomes 16, then 17, this is exhausting stuff. Who will blink first? Penalty Australia! A Fijian ball carrier couldn’t resist a sneaky touch on the deck and the Wallabies clear.
72 mins: Lineout on halfway to Australia as Rayasi leaves the field. And Fiji steal the ball! They have dominated this second-half and Australia have wilted under the pressure.
71 mins: Fiji win their own throw then Rayasi belts a massive clearance – but did he pull his calf in the process – or was it just cramp? Australia make a mess of the counter, knocking-on in midfield, but they’re let-off when Fiji’s kick ahead goes out on the full and play is not called back for the advantage.
70 mins: White marshals his troops but after four or five slow bunts through the middle the veteran scrum-half chips over a kick top the right corner to cement territorial advantage.
69 mins: Fiji are secure under the restart and box-kick to halfway. Can the Wallabies find some attacking momentum?
PENALTY! Australia 14-18 Fiji (Muntz 68)
From 30m out just to the left the uprights Muntz deservedly extends Fiji’s lead.
67 mins: All the running is with Fiji as they rumble over halfway towards the 22 through Rayasi and the impressive Wainiqolo. There’s patience too, racking up the phases, sucking the life out of Australia’s defence until a breakdown penalty comes their way. Muntz with a very kickable opportunity to extend Fiji’s lead.
66 mins: White box-kicks clear off the defensive scrum. Can the Wallabies find another burst in these final 15 minutes?
64 mins: Fiji win an attacking scrum feed allowing Tuisova and Mata to punch holes in the gold line. There’s energy and momentum as the visitors go through eight phases to the 5m line, but they’re not finished, going one-out for another six phases. Wainiqolo sheers off to the right almost putting Maqala in. He’s held up so play shifts back to the left – and there’s an overlap – the try is begging… but Mata drops a straightforward pass from Muntz! Australia get another MASSIVE reprieve.
63 mins: Australia are now lacking cohesion in their combinations and Fiji force a muscular turnover after contact. They’re happy to grind through the phases in attacking territory until Ravouvou makes a charge down the right touchline. He’s stripped of possession in contact, but it goes forward off a gold jersey.
62 mins: Play resumes with Australia stealing Fijian lineout ball on their defensive 22. White and Donaldson are the new halves pairing for the Wallabies.
61 mins: Lolesio leaves the field on the medicart wearing a neck brace. Hopefully any injury is not too serious.
60 mins: Meanwhile, Lolesio is in some trouble on the turf. He was involved in the attack that broke down preceding Fiji’s near-miss. His ankle seemed to be caught under his body as he was wrestled to the ground, but there’s also a suggestion he might have hurt his neck. There’s a not insignificant delay while he is being treated by team doctors.
59 mins: Wilson busts through the defensive line after a lovely pass from McReight – but the Wallabies lose the ball on the ground and Fiji kick clear. Potter mops up in his right corner, but then throws the ball infield to an isolated Frost. That is a hospital pass. Fiji swarm all over the big Wallaby and feast on the turnover. They have bodies galore on the right in support. The ball goes through hands and Maqala has the honours of stepping inside a couple of tacklers to extend Fiji’s lead!
But wait… more TMO action to come. OH NO! At the very start of that attacking phase Potter’s studs grazed the touchline fielding that initial clearing kick! Australia with a HUGE let-off.
56 mins: That was a thing of broken-field beauty – and after dominating the first half, the Wallabies find themselves behind!
CONVERTED TRY! Australia 14-15 Fiji (Tagitagivalu 55)
Oh my. Fiji win a lineout just inside their own half on the right and go through hands to the left. An awful pass to a crooked line goes to ground forcing Wainiqolo to mop up. Then he cuts infield and waltzes past Slipper. Then he breaks through two tacklers in the line. He can’t, can he? He can! Belting into space like a spooked thoroughbred Wainiqolo shakes his hips and sends Wright to the deck. This is incredible! A gold jersey emerges from stage right – what will the No 11 do? He sends a Harbour Bridge of a pass over his right shoulder to the rampaging Tagitagivalu in support and the big back rower touches down for a memorable try!
Muntz again flirts with the right-hand upright as he curls Fiji into the lead!
54 mins: The lineout looks textbook, but as the maul forms Brousset, who has main character energy, blows for an obstruction. And then…
53 mins: Excellent maul from Australia off the back of a lineout just inside Fiji’s half. Phase play is slow but there’s an advantage on it for Matavesi playing off his feet. The Wallabies kick to the left corner to see if they can recreate that early pushover try.
52 mins: The interchange is starting to roll as we hit the final half hour.
PENALTY! Australia 14-8 Fiji (Muntz 51)
Muntz, from 40m out, just to the right of the posts, kicks Fiji to within a converted try, with a penalty that ricochets over off the inside of the right upright.
50 mins: Fiji execute the scrum on their own 22 then shift the ball from left to right before Rayasi straightens up. There’s a breakdown advantage for the visitors as they head back infield and play is eventually recalled. Fiji will kick for goal.
Wallabies denied try because of forward pass
48 mins: The Wallaby pack is industrious just inside Fiji’s half and eventually there’s a quick enough ruck for the ball to be spun from left to right. The hands are crisp, again especially from Lolesio and Suaalii, to allow Potter to stand up his opposite number. He chips and chases, the bounce is in his favour, and Jorgensen gathers and slides over in one move! The Wallabies have looked very very dangerous when they get front foot ball in the backs.
But hang on … the TMO wants to check something. Was there a forward pass in the build-up? It looks like the final pass from Wright to Potter was a good couple of metres forward. It takes the TMO an absolute age to make a decision before determining there was an infringement. Disappointment for the home fans, but it was the correct decision.
46 mins: Fiji get rare flow from an attacking lineout and have momentum 20m out cutting infield from the right. Ravouvou punctures the line, then with opportunity knocking there’s the latest in a series of dreadful handling errors. Australia have grown at the scrum and safe ball allows McDermott to set off a move down the right that moves from a clearing run to an attacking chip and chase when Potter dinks the ball in to the right corner. Fiji scramble in defence but they’re soon on the backfoot just inside their own half.
45 mins: A routine set-piece allows McDermott to kick clear but he doesn’t find touch. Fiji run the ball back from their own half but they’re clumsy in possession and Australia can counter. Everything grinds to a halt on halfway so McDermott launches a garryowen that Muntz marks beautifully. Fiji attacking ball is slow so they go to the boot quickly. Australia try the chargedown but the charger is offside.
43 mins: Another set-piece lecture from referee Brousset precedes a Fijian lineout on attacking 22. It’s secured, then knocked-on, scrum Australia.
42 mins: It remains a glorious winter afternoon in Newcastle as Fiji secure the restart, grind through a couple of phases, then box kick over halfway. Australia respond by going through hands from right to left but Jorgensen is isolated trying to straighten up and Fiji win a breakdown penalty.
Second half begins
The teams are back out for the second half.
Porecki out of the game
Porecki has failed his HIA and will not return for the second half.
Half-time: Australia 14-5 Fiji
The Wallabies head to the break with a two try to one advantage over Fiji. There has been plenty to like with ball in hand from Australia, but as a contest it’s been hard going with so many set-pieces and a stack of time being taken out of the game from scrum resets and lectures.
TRY! Australia 14-5 Fiji (Rayasi 40)
Out of nowhere, Fiji strike back! With the half-time siren already blown, Australia kick to a contest just over halfway, but it comes down in white hands. That sparks classic Fijian broken field multi-phase attacking with rolling contests inside Australian territory until Rayasi has a sniff of the line in the left corner – and he takes three gold jerseys with him before reaching out and touching down! Instinctive attacking rugby from the visitors and a superb finish from the fullback on debut.
The touchline conversion attempt is narrowly wide of the nearside post.
CONVERTED TRY! Australia 14-0 Fiji (McReight 39)
Australia have a second try – and it’s that centre combination to the fore. Wilson and Frost do the grunt work in the guts then Lolesio is patient to find Ikitau on his left shoulder. The Wallabies have momentum, the Fijian defence is retreating, and Ikitau offloads to Suaalii, who barely touches the ball in a superb catch-and-pass to McReight. The flanker could make one more pass to seal the score, but opts to go instead, straightens up and crosses. That is the try the Wallabies have been building towards all game.
38 mins: Australia go from left to right deep in their own half off the scrum and Potter charges towards halfway before kicking ahead for Wright to chase. Fiji win that contest and set up decent field position, only to spill another awful unenforced knock-on. Australia kick again to that right corner, this time for Potter to chase, but the Fijian scramble defence is there in the nick of time.
36 mins: Still the Fijians come and after going through hands to the right Ravouvou chips and chases ahead. He runs straight into the nearest gold jersey and his teammates are furious there’s no penalty forthcoming, but the defender didn’t change his line. Instead, it’s a scrum to the Wallabies after the kick goes dead.
35 mins: Fiji run towards the gold defence a couple more times before accepting their fate and kicking, but they are now firmly in this contest, even if they lack penetration.
32 mins: Fiji are finally starting to come to life, returning the kick down the right, then moving to the left with some urgency. Then Ikanivere drops a simple pass and we’re back to the scrum do-si-do. Set; lecture; camera cutaway to a couple of prime ministers; reset … Finally McDermott can set an attack away down the left and again there’s the Australian pattern of kicking early in the phase behind the winger towards the corner. Fiji mop up and try to pass their way from right to left but don’t account for Suaalii’s phenomenal defensive coverage and he nails a white jersey under the posts. The visitors retain their composure and clear.
31 mins: Much of the playing time this afternoon has been spent packing, repacking, and penalising scrums. The latest takes part 20m out from Australia’s try line and ends with Lolesio larruping a mighty clearing kick.
29 mins: Gleeson gets caught on the wrong side of a breakdown and Fiji kick to attacking 22 for the first time this afternoon. Their lineout throw is not straight.
If you’re new to rugby, this is not the game for you to become instantly enamoured with the sport.
28 mins: Good news for Australia that Slipper’s day might not be over. He left the field for an HIA not his shoulder injury, and he has passed that test. Bad news for Australia that Porecki is now leaving the field for an HIA of his own.
27 mins: Ikitau, McReight, Porecki, Bell, all carry strongly into the line. Bell then slots Wilson through a tiny gap before he’s hauled down. Phase seven and Australia are inside the 22 but space is narrowing on the right edge and Fiji have bodies around the breakdown. Can the Wallabies maintain their composure? Nope. Gleeson is pinged for a lifting tackle at the contest by the touch judge.
