Wales beat Fiji (32-26) on Sunday in Bordeaux, one of its main rivals for qualification in Pool C of the 2023 World Cup. The Fijians failed in their fantastic final comeback due to a handball from their star Semi Radradra.
Published on: 09/11/2023 – 00:27
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Wales resisted an incredible end to the match from the Fiji team to achieve a valuable victory (32-26) over one of their main rivals for qualification in Pool C of the 2023 World Cup on Sunday September 10 in the evening in Bordeaux. In terms of play, suspense, spectacle and it owes a large part to the magicians of the islands not far from confirming their new status as the seventh team in the world.
In terms of points, the Welsh share the head of the group with Australia, also victorious with the bonus on Saturday from Georgia (35-15).
The Fijians, who will find it difficult to console themselves with a double defensive and offensive bonus, will play their all against the Wallabies next Sunday in Saint-Étienne. The Welsh will face double world champions Australia the following Sunday in Lyon.
A fantastic final comeback
Warren Gatland’s men, rewarded for their good start by Adams in the 7th minute, thought they had done the hard part by scoring three more tries by North (29), Rees-Zammit (48), Dee (66) and adding 12 points at the foot of their opener Biggar, to have an 18-point lead with less than a quarter of an hour to go.
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But the Fijians, who had already briefly gone in front thanks to two tries from Nayacalevu (13) and Tagitagivalu (17), threatened them until the end by scoring two more times in the last ten minutes by Tuisova (73) and Doge (78). Alas, Radradra, at the end of the line, missed the match point after the siren by committing a forward.
The Fijians will also be able to regret the three other times where they crossed the line without seeing their efforts validated by the referee, either for a forward (35, 62), or for lack of images to confirm that the player had flattened (77).
Read alsoFind the calendar and results of the competition
With AFP
