Late drama and heartbreak for Fiji as a late knock-on from Semi Radradra allowed Wales to squeeze through this Group C opener, winning 32-26 tonight in Bordeaux.

It was an action-packed game from start to finish, with some great rugby played by both sides, but ultimately Wales pick up a bonus-point victory over Fiji. Fiji do, however, pick up two points in bonuses for tries scored and for being within 7 points of Wales at the full time whistle.

It was an utterly pulsating first half, both sides looking to lay down a marker in the opening game of their tournament. An early Dan Biggar penalty saw Wales get on the scoresheet first, just five minutes later they would add to their score with a Josh Adams try.

Following a Welsh lineout, the ball was spread through the midfield, where inside-centre Nick Tompkins bravely took the ball towards the formidable Fijian defence, releasing a lovely pop-pass inside to George North just before he was tackled. North strode up the pitch, deep into Fijian territory, and after a series of pick-and-go drives, the ball worked its way wide to Josh Adams, who crossed the try line to give Wales an 8-point lead.

It was all Fiji for the next ten minutes, as they bounced back quickly after conceding early. Fiji were at their best during times of broken play, characterised by their first try this evening, scored by Waisea Nayacalevu.

Fiji were building well inside the Welsh half, but a loose pass looked as if it had halted them in their tracks. However, Nayacalevu sped onto the bouncing ball, judging the bounce perfectly before powering through a gap between Dan Biggar and Aaron Wainwright. The centre’s speed carried him through the contact, and there could be no stopping him on his way to the line.

The flyinf Fijians were on the scoresheet again just moments later, Nayacalevu heavily involved again. Following a solid scrum, Fiji played the ball through the hands of the backs. The outside centre went on a darting run before he released his centre-partner Semi Radradra with a beautifully delicate offload.

Radradra anticipated the offload and powered through the broken Welsh defence, driving towards the line with Lekima Tagitagivalu to his right. Drawing the tackle, Radradra released the ball to his teammate, who went over for an easy score.

Wales didn’t panic, however, and wrestled back some momentum in this game with another Dan Biggar Penalty from distance. Getting a real foothold in this game, Wales would go on to take the lead in the 28^th minute thanks to a brilliant running line and offload from Tompkins yet again. Despite being pushed back repeatedly by a strong Fijian maul defense, Wales chipped away with the forwards, before releasing the ball out the back.

Much like his move to set up the earlier try, Tompkins took the ball hard to the line, committing the defenders before offloading inside to North again. This time North was too close to the line to be stopped, and he flew over the whitewash to make it four tries scored in the first half hour. Fiji will be annoyed at this score, for it looked as if Wales had scuppered an opportunity just moments previously. However, a TMO check awarded Wales a penalty for a no arms tackle from Vinaya Habosi. It was from the resulting lineout that Wales scored.

The TMO was called into action again in the 34^th minute after it looked as if Eroni Mawi had dived over the top of the ruck to dot down a third try for Fiji. After review, the loose-head prop was deemed to have knocked the ball on, and thus no try was awarded.

It was a brilliant first half of rugby from both sides, but you suspect Fiji headed into the break the happier of the two sides. They consistently made metres in their carries and looked much the more dangerous side.

Wales were strong out of the blocks at the start of the second half, and could have extended their lead by 3, but Dan Biggar missed a penalty to the right of the posts. They would, however, make up for this miss with a try in the 48^th minute, scored by the electric Louis Rees-Zammit. Nick Tompkins was busy again, this time proving himself as a hot-stepper to break the Fiji defence and drive towards the line.

From the following ruck, flanker and captain Jac Morgan produced a wonderful cross-field kick to Rees-Zammit on the right wing. Vinaya Habosi will not want to look at a replay of this try again, for he could have caught the awkward kick, but was off balance after scarpering with ground to make up. Rees-Zammit had an easy run to the line, and another Biggar conversion brought Wales’ lead up to 11 points.

Fiji refused to go down without a fight, and pushed for a comeback try for the next ten minutes. The Fijians, with immense pressure on the Welsh try line, opted to keep the ball with the forwards and rattled through an enormous number of pick-and-go drives. Wales were lucky not to have a player sent to the bin, after they committed four penalty offences in the space of three minutes with Fiji in dangerous positions. The offside offences were rather cynical, with the choice not to go to the book an interesting one from Karl Dickson the referee.

This feeling only got worse for Fiji fans when they had Lekima Tagitagivalu sent to the bin for a first-time offense for dragging down a Welsh driving maul. From the resulting penalty, Wales opted for the lineout, backing their driving maul. They got the call right, as substitute hooker Elliot Dee crossed over the try line to give Wales a bonus-point-securing try. Another conversion from Dan Biggar was to be the veteran fly-half’s last involvement in this game, who had a great night from the kicking tee, scoring 12 points.

Wales’ man advantage would last just moments, as Welsh prop substitute Corey Domachowski was shown a yellow card for kicking the ball away after Fiji were awarded a penalty. It was a moment of madness from the prop, who won’t have got any thanks from his teammates, who now found themselves under more pressure than they had anticipated.

Fiji didn’t waste much time in piling the pressure back on Wales, as they finally got the pick-and-go try that they deserved. With Wales camped on their try line for much of this third quarter, Fiji made their territory count. The ball was played out to superstar Josua Tuisova, who powered through a gap in the Welsh defence to score a crucial try for Fiji. It was all set to be a dramatic closing ten minutes.

Levani Botia was denied a try by TMO after he was deemed to have illegaly made a double movement to reach for the try line. TMO officials were happy to stick with an on-field decision of Try, but the referee was unhappy with Botia’s movement and ruled out the try. The Fijian contingent of Bordeaux were very unhappy with this decision.

Fiji got their reward for all of their hard work, and substitute Mesake Doge crossed the try line to reduce Wales’ lead to just 6 points with only minutes left in this game.

With the clock deep in the red, it looked as if Fiji were going to score a late try to potentially win the game, as Teti Tela spread the ball wide to Semi Radradra who found himself with time and space on the left wing. The pass bounced on the ground just at the feet of Radradra, who spilled the ball forward and was unable to collect the ball. With that, the game was over and Wales would hold on for the win. Heartbreak for Fiji at the death, the shock written all over the face of Radradra, who you would fancy to score a try from there 9 times out of 10.

Late drama in an action-packed night in Bordeaux, the game of the tournament so far, without a doubt.