Nations Championship: Fiji 24-39 Wales – Wales win by six tries at Cardiff City Stadium

Nations Championship

Fiji (10) 24

Try: Sowakula, Kanakaivata, Ravutaumada Disadvantages: Armstrong-Ravula 3 pen: Armstrong-Ravula

Wales (10) 39

Try: Morgan 2, Carre, Adams, Elias, James Disadvantages: Edwards, Costello 2 pen: Edwards

Wales recorded back-to-back international wins for the first time in three years with a 39-24 win over Fiji in the opening game of the Nations Championship at Cardiff City Stadium.

Two tries from flanker Jack Morgan allowed Wales to somehow hold the Fiji side at 10-10 at half-time.

Wales showed their fitness with second half tries from prop Reece Carre, wing Josh Adams, hooker Ryan Elias and center Eddie James.

Fiji managed tries from flanker Pita Gus Sowakula, number eight Elia Kanakaivata and wing Celestino Ravutaumada, with fly-half Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula scoring nine points.

Wales followed up their Six Nations win over Italy at the Principality Stadium in March to win back-to-back Tests for the first time since the 2023 World Cup.

Morgan was named man of the match for his two try hauls and excellent defensive display.

Fiji dominated the attacking stats but Wales managed to contain them, with three of their six tries coming from the driving mall as head coach Steve Tandy’s game plan proved successful thanks to their set-piece superiority.

The only negative for Wales was that the match was played in front of a disappointing crowd of 16,456 in the first ever rugby international at Cardiff City’s football stadium.

This victorious Wales team, who defeated a team two places above them in the world rankings, deserved to celebrate this success in front of more fans.

Wales scored six tries in a Test for the first time in five years, which also came against Fiji.

Wales now face Argentina and South Africa, while Fiji face England at Liverpool’s Hill Dickinson Stadium and Scotland at Murrayfield.

The build-up was hampered by a dispute between the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) and the players over match fees, which was resolved just three days before kick-off.

Captain Dewey Lake and former center and current WRU board member Jamie Roberts both said it should not have happened, but head coach Tandy insisted no training was missed.

It was officially a home game for Fiji, 10,000 miles away from home, with Wales the visitors in their own capital city.

The Fijians are playing three matches in the UK in July as they currently do not have a stadium that meets the criteria for the Nations Championship.

It is hoped that revenue from staging home games in Europe during the next two tournaments will help build that field by 2030.

Tandy made six changes from the team that defeated the Barbarians which included the return of four English and French-based club players, including Louis Rees-Zammit, who lined up on the wing rather than the full-back position during the Six Nations.