Wallabies Comeback Dodges Banana Skin

Michael Cheika agreed his side were given a huge wake up call as Australia survived a ferocious Fijian storm.

- Gary Fitgerald

The Wallabies coach was a relieved man following a six-try win which had threatened for almost an hour to turn into a opening match nightmare.

Fiji lit up the Sapporo Dome with their special brand of entertaining and explosive rugby before being over-run in the final 20 minutes by the strong Australia bench. They led 21-12 shortly into the second half as they showed no first night fears.

However, Cheika’s men avoided a bloody nose in Pool D, and he said: “Fiji are such a dangerous team and it was what we expected. We did not expect to be so far behind but we recomposed ourselves and managed to get the job done. You could say it was a wake-up call for the guys because they know what is needed to progress from this Pool.

“The guys showed tremendous character after a sticky first half.”