Jac Morgan double earns clinical Wales victory over Fiji in Nations Championship

A rare away win for Wales. In Cardiff maybe, but the “visitors” claimed a classic smash-and-grab victory against hosts who at times played as if they came from a different hemisphere indeed, possibly even planet. How Fiji found themselves level at the break, let alone 15 down come the end, defies analysis, but Jac Morgan is one answer, or at least the aptest representative of it.

Back on Wales’ flank now, having missed most of the season through injury, Morgan scored two tries in the first half, but his defensive work was heroic throughout. And boy it had to be.

“I’m really proud of the boys,” said Steve Tandy, the Wales head coach. “It wasn’t always perfect. What Fiji produced on the field is magical, but the way our boys kept going, some of the goalline stuff, was outstanding. And the set piece was excellent.”

The half-time score may have read 10-10, but the contrast in the teams could not have been starker. In that first half particularly, one played rugby non-stop, a blur of angles and sleights of hand, and the other scored a couple of tries from driven lineouts. At one point towards the end of the first half, a stat flashed up that Fiji had made 12 clean breaks. Wales at that point had made none.

But rugby, as we must always celebrate, is a game of many parts. And you get no points for artistic merit. The nuts and bolts of the set piece remain as important as ever in this age of carnival rugby. Wales’ scrum won a penalty almost every time it was set, and they kicked two of them to the corner, whence Morgan twice touched down at the back of rolling mauls that included several of the Welsh backs.

Perhaps those backs were happier in the mauls, because they were terrorised in the open spaces. If Fiji had tried to show off with their outrageous handling just a little less, they could have been out of sight by the break, taking the breath away with their running and angles, only for the latest devilish flick out of a tackle to go to ground.

Still, they had a try after only two minutes, Pita Gus Sowakula finishing what was not even by then their first fabulous move, featuring the effortless artistry of the magician, Salesi Rayasi, and the power of Josua Tuisova. Rayasi was involved again in what we thought was Fiji’s second, in the 18th minute, but the ball slipped out of Selestino Ravutaumada’s hand a split-second before he dotted down in the corner. In the next play, Tevita Ikanivere thought he might have scored too, but he was deemed to have dropped it just short. It was close. In the end, Fiji, against all odds, drew level at the break with a humble old penalty goal, kicked following wizardry, this time, by Jiuta Wainiqolo.

Josh Adams scored Wales’ fourth try of the match to clinch a bonus point. Photograph: Nations Championship/Getty Images

Roles were reversed at the start of the second half, though. Blair Murray, who might not have touched the ball in the first, made a fine break down the right, and Wales’ backs saw some action at last. The wingers combined with Tomos Williams to go close, and Rhys Carré finished round the fringes. Two minutes later, Wales scored again, this time criminally, when Ravutaumada waited in vain for the ball to roll dead, only for Josh Adams to sneak in for the bonus-point try.

Fiji replied in northern style, when Sale-bound No 8 Elia Canakaivata scored off a driven lineout. Dan Edwards’s penalty kept Wales eight points ahead, but Fiji pulled back to within one with 25 minutes to go, this time relying on simple hands to set Ravutaumada away to a measure of redemption.

But the balance of the game had shifted now. Wales, if not exactly dazzling, certainly enjoyed more of the ball and seemed much calmer when they had it. A penalty to the corner in the 67th minute yielded a third try from a lineout-and-drive, this finished by Ryan Elias.

Fiji mounted an attack as the game crept into last 10 minutes, but the snap was not quite there. A knock-on close to the line allowed Wales another chance to perform the scrum-penalty-clearance routine. Another scrum again, this time five metres out, set up Eddie James for Wales’ sixth.

That they scored twice as many as Fiji will interest analysts for years to come. But the scoreline is the scoreline. Wales have a second Test win in a row after so many recent defeats. They will take it, as they board the plane to Argentina.

Everybody else, meanwhile, should head to Liverpool next weekend, where Fiji will next be performing rugby as performance art, at home to England. “We definitely will be better,” said Tevita Ikanivere, Fiji’s captain. “Once we find that balance, we’re going to be a very dangerous team.”