Wales clinch 23-13 win over Fiji to deliver another body blow to England

Tries from Gareth Davies and Scott Baldwin and Dan Biggar's boot was enough to put Fiji to bed, who threw everything at Wales and were rewarded with a dazzling Vereniki Goneva try and five Ben Volavola points.

It wasn't all one-way traffic, and Wales were up against it on the hour as fatigue kicked in, but as Warren Gatland emptied his bench the game was closed out.

Wales weren't able to clinch the bonus point try, but remain in pole position to qualify from Pool A.

Fiji could ill afford to kick loosesly to Matthew Morgan and within a minute they'd done just that.

He set George North off on a surging run who was hauled down inches from the try line.

Wales went through the phases and despite two attempted driving mauls, the ball was eventually turned over by Levani Botia.

Half back partners Davies and Biggar scrambled back to regain possession and a neat kick and chase by Morgan pinned the Fijians back inside their own 5m line.

After being rushed by the Welsh defence, Gethin Jenkins made a tackle inside the in-goal area to give his country a 5m scrum.

An early shove by Fiji saw Taulupe Faletau tap and go and Davies exploited the fringe defence to snipe over under the posts on seven minutes.

The second scrum of the game followed the same pattern as the first as Wales slapped it in reverse and conceded a penalty which Ben Volavola knocked over from 48m out.

He couldn't add to his tally four minutes later as a kick from an infringement in the lineout fadded to the right of the posts.

A quarter of the way through the game Gethin Jenkins defied the number on his back once again and clamped on the ball at the breakdown on the halfway line.

As John Lacey put the whistle to his mouth to blow the penalty, Gareth Davies was gone and stormed into the 22 where Fiji were penalised again allowing Dan Biggar to stretch the Welsh lead to 7.

Morgan made the stadium erupt again three minutes later as he snaked his way out of three tackles just outside his 22 and burst upfield.

He fed Gareth Davies who offloaded to Faletau, but the number 8 was pinged for holding on with the second try within sniffing distance.

Wales fed the corner again from a penalty and after another 12-man driving maul failed, Bradley Davies was pinged for an illegal clear at the ruck for a neck grab as the TMO was looking at a potential North try.

They had to wait until the 32nd minute for their second and it was created by Dan Biggar.

His delay of the pass to send Gethin Jenkins through a hole was sublime and then having recycled the ball his quick hands set Tyler Morgan free.

Scott Baldwin grabbed the ball from the ruck and after a quick check with the TMO, Biggar slotted the conversion from the touchline.

With just three minutes to half time, Wales conceded another penalty at the scrum which Ben Volavola slotted to reduce the gap to 11.

Wales attempted one more rolling maul and thanks to some questionable Fijian tactics, they were once again held up as the whistle went for half time.

The second half started frantically and linebreaks were becoming regular.

With 10 minutes gone, Gethin Jenkins uncharacteristically fell off a tackle in midfield and the Fijians did as the Fijians do and tore Wales apart.

Vereniki Goneva got the last touch of a flowing move and when Volavola added the conversion it was just a four-point game.

It could have been very different had Alex Cuthbert held onto an interception attempt just moments before the Jenkins tackle, but it was one of many mistakes the out-of-sorts winger made during the game.

Samson Lee entered the fray for Tomas Francis and four minutes later Dan Biggar was at it again with a colossal penalty from more than 50m to give his country a bit more breathing space.

It was all Fiji for the next 10 minutes and the Welsh players would have hoped for the roof to slide open for them to suck in some oxygen.

They looked out on their feet, but Warren Gatland made his changes in dribs and drabs as Luke Charteris was the next to come on, replacing Bradley Davies permanently on 64 minutes.

He took a lineout 10m out, and after a set move nearly put Ken Owens away down the blind side, Fiji regained possession.

They weren't able to clear their lines as Jamie Roberts charged down leading to a scrum five metres out for Gatland's men.

Roared on by the Millennium crowd, a fresh front row of Aaron Jarvis, Ken Owens and Samson Lee put the squeeze on Fiji, and after Taulupe Faletau picked up, the islanders were pinged for going off their feet.

Dan Biggar launched Wales back into a 10-point lead with 15 minutes to go and Justin Tipuric came on for Dan Lydiate.

Wales were on the ropes, and when Dan Biggar was taken off for cramp and replaced by Rhys Priestland, they faced a lineout 10m from their tryline.

Priestland ripped the ball in a tackle and nudged the ball upfield where James Hook - now on for Matthew Morgan - did exactly the same.

He had Justin Tipuric outside him and the third try at his mercy, but he scuffed a grubber and the attack fizzled out.

With five minutes to go, Wales went in search of the try bonus point and were a blade of grass short through another Gareth Davies snipe.

From the resulting scrum, Alun Wyn Jones spilled the ball in a heavy collision and the hopes of the maximum five-points were dashed.

Gareth Davies was announced as the man of the match as Wales launched another hopeful attack, but it was James Hook who this time knocked on.

Fiji didn't stop after the clock had gone red, but when Wales turned the ball over Alex Cuthbert was given one last chance to add to his team's 23 points only to be bundled into touch to the sound of John Lacey's fulltime whistle.