Three things learned from Wales v Fiji World Cup thriller – eNCA

PARIS – Wales and Fiji produced the match the Rugby World Cup required after a weekend of largely one-sided affairs with the Welsh winning a pulsating 32-26 cliffhanger in Bordeaux on Sunday.

Wales will be content their second Pool C match is against minnows Portugal next Saturday while Fiji realistically need to beat Australia on Sunday if they are to make the last eight.

AFP Sport picks out three things to take from their encounter:

Hard-earned lessons

Wales head coach Warren Gatland had said prior to the match he was a bag of nerves on the sidelines, feeling powerless as a coach while having to rely on the players on the pitch to make the decisions.

So it was no wonder the New Zealander said he had his heart in his mouth as Wales, who were 32-14 up with less than 2src minutes to go, were a converted try away from losing.

It had shades of their collapse against Australia last November when they after leading by 21 points in the second half. That defeat cost Wayne Pivac his job and Gatland accepted to return for a second spell.

Gatland admitted some “dumb d