Wales thrash Fiji to march into last eight

HAMILTON, New Zealand, Oct 2 (Reuters): Wales took advantage of a disjointed Fiji to run in nine tries in a 66-0 thrashing at the Waikato Stadium on Sunday to confidently march into the World Cup quarter-finals.

Four tries came in the first half with five in the second as Wales secured second place in Pool D behind holders South Africa and set-up a likely quarter-final against Six Nations rivals Ireland in Wellington next week. “We said we wanted to be ruthless from the first minute to the 80th. Credit to Fiji, but our defence held strong and that was the target for us,” Wales captain Sam Warburton said in an interview.

“We played the game in the right areas and to get 66 points, we can’t complain about that.”

Wales had only needed a point against Fiji, who had made 10 changes to their side in fielding a number of fringe players, to reach the last eight and they showed little mercy to record their biggest World Cup win on a wet night in Hamilton.

Welsh inside centre Jamie Roberts produced another strong display and was the first to take advantage of some flimsy Fijian defending to step inside and hand off a tackler to cross for the opening try in the sixth minute.

Flyhalf Rhys Priestland slotted the conversion, the first of 11 points from the boot, before most-capped Wales international Stephen Jones came on in the second half and added eight more.

Winger George North was the pick of the Welsh backs and his quick hands sent centre Scott Williams through for the second try in the 17th minute before he crossed himself on the half hour despite what looked like a forward pass in the build-up.

Fiji beat Wales 38-34 in the pool stage of the 2007 World Cup to reach the quarter-finals at the expense of their Six Nations rivals but that result was never likely to be replicated this time around.

The Fijians had looked ragged in earlier Pool D defeats by Samoa and South Africa and were painfully slow to get to the breakdown on Sunday as they constantly had ball turned over.

Their set-piece fared no better with their scrum either penalised or sent backwards routinely and the lineout misfiring which appeared to demoralise them.

North took advantage and another linebreak and neat pass sent Warburton over for the bonus point try just on the halftime whistle as Wales went in 31-0 ahead.

The Pacific Islanders, who had a slim chance of reaching the last eight if they had beaten Wales by 85 points, started the second half brightly but the Welsh were again celebrating a try as rain began to fall heavily.

Once again the impressive North broke through and, after an exchange of passes with Priestland, Roberts jogged under the posts for his second try.

Replacement hooker Lloyd Burns bulldozed his way over for another as both sides made a flurry of changes.

Fiji’s substitutes also struggled as Welsh winger Leigh Halfpenny gratefully ran in an easy score in the 68th minute after Fijian back Albert James Vulivuli slipped and injured himself attempting to pick up the ball in his 22.

Replacement scrumhalf Lloyd Williams scored a neat try after a dart from another strong scrum with fellow substitute Jonathan Davies completing the try scoring by barging through in the 81st minute as Fiji tired.

“It is a result that we are certainly not proud of,” Fiji coach Samu Domoni said in a pitchside interview.

“The high mistake rate in the game was reflected in the scoreline, and we’re very disappointed. We pushed a lot of passes and an error rate of more than 30 is not acceptable.”

Fiji’s Mala Ravulo and Wales captain Sam Warburton (C) collide as they fight for a high ball during their Rugby World Cup Pool D match at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton October 2, 2011. REUTERS