Well, how many greats do you want? Perhaps the greatest World Cup game ever
played, perhaps the greatest feast of rugby and the greatest range of
attacking palletes. Perhaps the greatest upset, and perhaps the final
condemnation of all those who would rather that great rugby nations such as
Fiji were given their own minor-countries tournament to mess about in.
This was one of those games that you will need to sit with the video in a
darkened room to believe that it ever happened. And there was nothing flash
or fluky about Fiji’s brilliant first-half, about the brilliant recovery by
Wales and about the nerveless and yet tingling way in which Fiji steadied
and secured the victory they so thoroughly deserved.
They will go on to play South Africa in the quarter-final next Sunday in
Marseilles, Wales will go home. Wales will face a ferocious inquest, and it
will be no consolation to them that they took part in this all-time epic.
They were not good enough on the day, but it would be ridiculous to start
delving in too deeply. Genius in the opposition often does not bear
scrutiny.
The period of the first half in which Fiji scored 25 points in 12 minutes was
one of the most remarkable passages of brilliant attacking rugby I have ever
seen.
Seru Rabeni had already announced himself with some splendid defending, but
then he broke out with some attacking brilliance which defied convention and
defied the notion that individual players can have limitations. He and Isoa
Neivua conspired down the left, Seremaia Bai took the ball on and Fiji were
away. Rabeni appeared with more quick-footed brilliance, then Fiji’s
strong-running back row took up the attack and, eventually, it was Akapusi
Qera who forced his way over. Only regal.
Almost immediately, Rabeni and company came again. He made a quite
breathtaking inside pass out of a tackle to set Bai free and, this time, the
dangerous Vilimoni Delasau came up on the right. Delasau chipped ahead,
leapt high above two Welsh defenders and dragged the ball down just before
his momentum took him over the dead-ball line.
And, shortly after that, Qera went shooting away into wide open spaces after
spotting that Wales had defended a ruck only sparsely. He and Bai led the
charge, Rabeni came up with a vital interpolation, the ball was kept alive
with interchange between backs and forwards and the hulking Kele Leawere
forced his way over. Little kicked some goals and, suddenly, stunningly, it
was 25-3 and Wales were in a state of shock.
They had to claw something back by half-time and they tried to power their way
over in an almost endless series of attacking scrums and mauls. For a long
time, and despite the prompting of Dwayne Peel around the fringes, Fiji held
up reasonably well.
Fiji were also highly unfortunate not to be awarded a turnover when a scrum on
their line wheeled gently around and it was unfathomable that the referee
should give Wales the ball. But Fiji splintered at the next scrum and Alix
Popham controlled the ball well enough to score.
There was another key incident just before half-time when Fiji had the ball
well under control and were preparing for a clearing kick. But, as Stephen
Jones darted in towards the ruck, Qera lifted his knee in self-defence,
caught Jones and, although it was nothing more malicious than a reflex
action, Qera was sent to the sin-bin. There is nothing like the player of a
smaller rugby nation to make referees want to police rough play. And so,
although James Hook missed the penalty on the stroke of half-time, Fiji were
denuded for the opening 10 minutes of the second half and there were already
signs that Fiji’s tight forwards were better at playing superlative rugby
with the ball in hand than they were in winning it in the first place. Wales
came back with two tries which were every bit as brilliant as those scored
by Fiji and which brought them hurtling headlong back into the contest.
Fiji’s own naivete and the referee’s lassitude gave Wales a turnover deep in
their own half and they attacked with menace.
Tom Shanklin held the ball up to draw the defence, handed on the perfect pass
to Shane Williams and Williams electrified the whole stadium with a searing
finishing burst which produced sidesteps off his right foot on the way to
the try.
It was now Wales who were striding the stage of electricity and raw class.
They scored two more tries inside the first 10 minutes, one in the absence
of Qera when Mark Jones arrived from the far wing to take an inside pass
from Hook, only for the move to continue a roll to the right and for Gareth
Thomas to celebrate his 100th cap with a try in the corner. Wales regained
the lead in the 50th minute, again with brilliant handling by their backs, a
final pass from Hook missing out two defenders to give Jones a score in the
right-hand corner. People tried to catch their breath, but there was no time
for anyone to draw it. It was 29-25 to Wales after 53 minutes in a game that
was leaving scorch marks on the turf of the stadium.
Fiji were able to briefly calm their shattered nerves when the referee spotted
Wales offside and Nicky Little brought it back to within a point with a
penalty.
How were we to know, of course, that what had gone before was only a prelude
to the drama that was to come. After Little had put Fiji into the lead on
the hour, he had a chance to extend it with another penalty but fell short
and Fiji’s renewed composure was a marvel.
They kept on coming, attacking in waves even after Fiji had made the most
nonsensical substitution in the history of rugby by taking off Rabeni.
As the match went into the last seven minutes, drama piled on drama. Fiji’s
front row, for goodness’ sake, put Bai away down the right wing on the end
of an amazing attack and the television match official ruled out the try
only by millimetres when Thomas somehow made the tackle.
Fiji came again, attacking in waves. But one pass from Little was picked off
and Martin Williams ran the ball deep into the heart of the whole of Fiji
and over the line for a try.
And Fiji came yet again. Graham Dewes somehow forcing his way over for a try
which this time satisfied the television official and the conversion by
Little put Fiji ahead by 38-34 with less than three minutes remaining.
Wales tries: Popham 34, S Williams 45, G Thomas 48, M Jones 51, M Williams 73.
Conversions: Jones (2), Hook. Penalty: Jones
Fiji tries: Qera 16, Delasau 19, Leawere 25, Dewes 77. Conversions: Little
(3). Penalties: Little (4)
Referee: S Dickinson (Australia). Attendance: 42,000
Star man: Seru Rabeni(Fiji)
Wales:G Thomas (Blues); M Jones (Scarlets), T Shanklin (Blues), J Hook
(Ospreys), S Williams (Ospreys); S Jones (Scarlets), D Peel (Scarlets, M
Phillips (Ospreys) 58min); G Jenkins (Blues), M Rees (Scarlets), C Horsman
(Worcester, D Jones (Ospreys) 65min), AW Jones (Ospreys), I Evans (Ospreys,
I Gough (Ospreys) 65min), C Charvis (Dragons), M Williams (Blues), A Popham
(Scarlets, M Owen (Dragons) 65min).
Fiji:K Ratuvou (Saracens); V Delasau (Clermont Auvergne), S Rabeni
(Leicester, N Ligairi (Brive) 67min), S Bai (Clermont Auvergne), I Neivua
(Mosimosi, S Bobo (Biarritz) 52min); N Little (Petrarca, J Daunivucu
(Tarbes) 80min), M Rauluni (Saracens); G Dewes (Marist Auckland), S Koto
(Marist Suva, V Sauturaga (Naitasiri) 77min), J Railomo (Piteia, H Qiodravu
(Rugby Club Orleans) 54min), K Leawere (Hino Motors), I Rawaqa (World
Fighting Bull), S Naevo (NEC Green Rockets), A Qera (Gloucester, A Ratuva
(Nadroga) 74min), S Koyamaibole (Petrarca).
Yellow cards: Fiji:Qera 40min
