Wallabies wobble past flying Fijians ahead of Lions series
Fiji 18
THE VOCAL, VIBRANT Fijian crowd in Newcastle had started to believe.
How could they not when their team had scored such a wonder try in the second half, sensational wing Jiuta Wainiqolo scorching past four defenders before sending flanker Lekima Tagitagivalu into the right corner for an acrobatic finish?
And how could they not when another brilliant counter-attack five minutes later resulted in replacement back Sireli Maqala finishing?
The celebrations of that one were wild, but short-lived.
A TMO intervention saw the try chalked off, with footage showing that Wallabies wing Harry Potter had stepped into touch just before Fiji turned the ball over and scored. The try was ruled out.
At a sun-soaked MacDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, where the temperature hit 20°C, Joe Schmidt's Wallabies were seriously feeling the heat. This was supposed to be an ideal warm-up for the Lions series, which gets underway in just under two weeks.
Instead, it threatened to be a nightmare start to 2025 for Schmidt's men, who lost first-choice out-half Noah Lolesio to injury in the second half. The playmaker was carted off in a neck brace. He gave a thumbs up on his way to the touchline, but that's a worry for the Lions series.
Out-half Noah Lolesio was injured. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo
When Fiji kicked a penalty to lead 18-14 with only 12 minutes to go, the Fijian fans were bouncing.
And they came just two minutes from recording successive wins over Australia for the first time in their history. It was Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson who broke their hearts, powering his way over from close range. The Fijians wanted the grounding checked, but French referee Pierre Brousset insisted he had seen it clearly.
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And so it was that the Wallabies have a win to send them into their three-Test battle with the Lions. They don't exactly have a convincing performance to give them momentum, though.
They had nice moments in this game, starting snappily to produce a powerful maul try for hooker Dave Porecki, while openside Fraser McReight finished another first-half score after some simple, slick handling.
Yet too often, the Wallabies' passing let them down. Twice, fullback Tom Wright passed forward to his wings when the try was on, both of those efforts from Harry Potter and Max Jorgensen chalked off.
At other times, they spilled the ball in promising positions as they forced their hand, while there were sloppy penalty concessions at crucial times, and their kicking game was very inconsistent.
Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt has plenty to work on. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo
Their decision-making was questionable at times and the performance generally lacked patience. In fact, it was a little like what we saw from the Lions last night against the Waratahs. Not kicking three points just before Tagitagivalu's try was an odd decision.
It wasn't a hugely encouraging performance from the Australians with the Lions series to come but Schmidt will hope that two more weeks of training can bring more fluidity in his team.
For Fiji, it's a sickening outcome on an afternoon that promised so much.
Debutant fullback Salesi Rayasi scored a cracking try just before the break to bring the Fijians back to 14-5, a cracking pass from scrum-half Simione Kuruvoli and an offload by Wainiqolo giving him the chance to score through Aussie fullback Wright's missed tackle.
Mick Byrne's men must have felt they could seal the deal when out-half Caleb Muntz kicked them 18-14 up in the second half.
But when second row Isoa Nasilasila was penalised for going off his feet at an attacking breakdown in the 74th minute, Byrne might have feared the worst.
Another string of penalties followed and though Fiji stopped the Wallabies' close-range maul effort, Wilson had the power and poise to pirouette over and get his side out of jail.
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