Wales vs Fiji: Five Things We Learnt In Defeat
Wales lost 19-24 to Fiji at home for the first time in their history on Sunday but there was plenty that Warren Gatland learnt about his side.
Tries from debutant Blair Murray, a penalty try, and a late Ellis Bevan score were not enough to best the visitors, who were inspired by a sumptuous performance from flyhalf Caleb Muntz, kicking 14 points and scoring the try of the match.
The inquest into Wales’ recent performances – winless since last year’s World Cup and one defeat away from a record – while begin in earnest this week with Warren Gatland taking the brunt of the criticism for results.
There were plenty of lessons learnt in defeat that Gatland will attempt to build on if they are to break this winless run against Australia next Sunday.
Blair Murray has contrasting debut
After seven minutes, Scarlets’ Blair Murray must have thought test rugby was a cake walk.
A sweeping move set off by Ben Thomas’ lovely flick-on pass found its way through the hands of Mason Grady and Cam Winnett and eventually the winger to score on debut.
The New Zealand-born back was denied another on fifty minutes when Thomas spilled the ball in the build up. Ten minutes later he was put in one of the most difficult positions in world rugby: marking Josua Tuisova 1-on-1. Unsurprisingly, it only ended one way.
Overall, though, Murray showed that he has the finishing quality and all-round game for international rugby, despite an up-and-down debut.
6-2 Bench Debacle
It was a bit of a surprise on Friday when the Wales 23 was announced and it was confirmed that Warren Gatland had picked a 6-2 bench split, with just Ellis Bevan and Sam Costelow the replacement backs.
The worst happened after just 17 minutes when Mason Grady was forced off the field with a lower leg injury and Sam Costelow – only really a flyhalf – had to replace the Cardiff man on the wing.
Not only did Gatland concede that he will not be going back to a 6-2 split, he also admitted that there was a breakdown in communication when Grady went off.
The Wales head coach said after the game that scrumhalf Ellis Bevan – who did eventually play on the wing after Gareth Anscombe was replaced – was meant to come on instead of Costelow.
“Probably the wrong player has gone on as a replacement,” said Gatland.
“We talked about Ellis Bevan going on there and he was supposed to and then Sam’s ran on the field. I think he might have assumed he was the person going on.
“We had already had those discussions with Ellis that if we do lose a winger, you’re going to need to cover us there. I need to get to the bottom of that and that was something we had to deal with.”
Adam Beard is Wales’ most important forward
Adam Beard is a bit of a polarizing figure in Welsh rugby. Looking at the stats, you can see why some Welsh fans are sceptical.
Beard made less tackles than Ben Thomas and only one more carry than Gareth Anscombe, and yet he demonstrated yesterday how much Wales missed him over the summer.
A ‘maul god’ as some on X dubbed him, Beard won 12 lineouts at a 100% rate, with the next highest is Taine Plumtree with five and was instrumental in the most successful part of Wales game.
Wales’ penalty try came from a maul drive, orchestrated by Beard and his impact was felt beyond the lineout too.
Beard is so effective in open play. Outside of Wales’ main playmakers – Tomos Williams, Anscombe and Thomas – Beard made the most passes of anyone on the pitch. Remarkably, he passed more than Fiji flyhalf Muntz.
Often stationed in the 15m channel, the Ospreys second row has an excellent set of hands and is often overlook by an opposition defence, much to Wales’ benefit.
Caleb Muntz: World Class
Having missed late year’s World Cup, there will have been a fair few Wales fans who did not know much about Fijian flyhalf Caleb Muntz.
Well they know all about him now. A man of the match performance included 14 points from the tee and scoring the try of match inspired Fiji to a first win in Wales in their history.
While Fiji were accused of a lack of game management in the World Cup group stage match when they turned a 14-8 lead into a 32-14 deficit before a spirited comeback.
This time, Muntz, in combination with Frank Lomani, controlled the game and expertly guided Fiji to a famous win at the Principality Stadium.
Where do Wales go from here?
This latest defeat is a 10th successive loss in test matches since the Rugby World Cup, equalling the previous record set under Steve Hansen in 2002-3.
Wales have not won for 400 days and Gatland was bullish when asked if his position as head coach is under threat.
“You can write about that,” said Gatland.
“The pressure comes externally, basically from the media as it’s a narrative that you create. That’s ok from where I sit.”
Gatland added: “We’ve said for the last 12 months since the World Cup, with the number of players and experience that we’ve lost, we were going to invest in a group of youngsters that we felt we could build with and take us on.
“We’ve seen development from those youngsters. We’ve said we need some patience and time.
“But I understand Test match rugby is about performing and winning.
“You [the media] control the narrative and write what you want. I’ll see what happens there.”
Wales under Gatland have previous thrived as underdogs but currently they look under-coached and overawed at this level. Gatland needs a win this Autumn if he going to remain in place for next year’s Six Nations.
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