Sports After Dark

The draw said today’s Pool B clash between Wales and Fiji in Nantes was just another pool game, but it was effectively sudden death to decide which team would qualify as the runner up in Pool B. In perhaps best game of the World Cup so far, Fiji stunned the more fancied Welsh 38-34 to move through to the quarterfinals where they will face South Africa.

The final ten minutes of the game were a frantic affair, as both teams knew they were playing for World Cup survival. With the score 31-29 Fiji looked to have sealed victory when Seremaia Bai crashed over in the corner, but subsequent replays showed that he was in touch just before grounding the ball.

Fiji continued to try to put the game away, but with eight minutes to play they could have seen their World Cup dreams in tatters when Welsh flanker Martyn Williams intercepted a Nicky Little pass and galloped 60 metres to score. A conversion from Stephen Jones could have made the game safer, but the Welsh goal kicking ace inexplicably hit the post for the third time in the game from a handy position.

Fiji threw everything into the final six minutes, knowing that they needed to score a try as a draw would have seen them eliminated. Wave after wave of white jerseys threw themselves at the Welsh line, slowly advancing down the field. With three minutes to go and Fiji just centimetres from the goal line, Williams attempted to kill the ball, only to seem Fiji somehow get it back and prop Graham Dewes had one last drive at the line.

There was momentary confusion as referee Stuart Dickinson found himself on the wrong side of the ruck to see if Dewes had scored, but after consulting touch judge Kelvin Deaker, who said Dewes was short of the line, Dickinson sent the decision upstairs to TMO Carlo Damasco. At least a minute elapsed as Damasco looked at every possible angle trying to find the ball in the mass of bodies before telling Dickinson that a try had been scored.

With the largely French crowd in raptures, fly half Little lined up the conversion from wide out. Going from villain to hero Little made no mistake with the kick, extending the lead to four points and ensuring that Wales would need a try in the final two minutes to win.

There was further drama in the dying moments of the game, Fiji conceding a penalty when they looked to have the ball under control and giving the Welsh one last shot at redemption. Wales tried hard and were able to advance the ball, but turned the ball over on the Fijian 22 and the game was over.

After the game Fijian captan Mosese Rauluni praised his team for the heart that they showed in that game. “This is a game that Fiji would have lost a few years ago,” he noted, but said he was very proud of his team for never giving up and for securing their first World Cup quarterfinal appearance.

Welsh coach Gareth Jenkins said his team played as well as they could, but on the day is simply was not enough against the explosive Fijians. Jenkins appeared highly frustrated by his team’s showing and almost looked resigned to the fact that he will be sacked shortly.

Wales have now been eliminated in the group stage for the third time in World Cup history, while Fiji have a quarterfinal date with the Springboks on Saturday in Marsaille.

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The Famous Fijian victory sends Welsh home by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.