Two tries from Ryan Elias and superb finishes from wingers Alex Cuthbert and Louis Rees-Zammit helped Wales beat a dogged 14-man Fiji 38-23 in Cardiff.
Wayne Pivac’s side bounced back from the disappointment of losing to world champions South Africa last week in the Autumn Nations Series by overturning a spirited Fiji who saw winger Eroni Sau sent off.
Captain Waisea Nayacalevu scored two terrific tries for the visitors who spent a quarter of the game with 13 after picking up two yellow cards.
But it was not enough as Kieran Hardy also crossed for the home side before a Liam Williams score at the death put a flattering twist on the scoreline.
Much of the pre-match talk had been dominated by winger Josh Adams’ selection at outside centre but a calf injury in the warm-up saw him withdrawn and replaced by Nick Tompkins with Willis Halaholo coming onto the bench.
And it was the flying Fijians who made a blistering start at the Principality Stadium when fly-half Ben Volavola’s disguised short ball sent Viliame Mata crashing through the gap between Dan Biggar and Adam Beard.
The Edinburgh No.8’s one-handed off-load found his captain Nayacalevu and the outside centre dotted down for the opening try in Cardiff.
Volavola added the extras to put Fiji 7-0 up after five minutes and soon after he slotted a 40-metre penalty to give the visitors an early ten-point cushion.
But Wayne Pivac’s Wales hit back when Elias flopped over from the back of an unstoppable rolling maul following a period of sustained pressure.
Biggar’s conversion reduced the deficit to three as Gareth Baber’s Fiji continued to show their full bag of tricks in the opening quarter, hooker Sam Matavesi even putting boot to ball after a funky lineout move.
Volavola kicked Fiji further in front but they suffered a major blow when winger Sau made direct contact with the head of Johnny Williams and was shown a red card by Nic Berry in the 25th minute.
Sau had made a number of imposing tackles in the early stages but paid the price after a second attempt on centre Williams and Fiji were reduced to 14 men after an interjection from the TMO.
Wales tried to make the most of their numerical advantage, spreading the ball from side to side and when Fiji were penalised Biggar kicked to the corner instead of opting for the posts and after the resulting maul came up short, continued to batter away on the Fiji line.
In the face of unrelenting pressure, flanker Albert Tuisue was sent to the sin bin for killing dangerous Welsh ball five metres out as his side went down to 13.
Captain Ellis Jenkins opted for the scrum and although the Fiji pack held firm, scrum-half Hardy darted over into the space on the right-hand side to score with Biggar converting to put Wales ahead for the very first time on the stroke of half-time.
Wales thought they had added a second try in two minutes when Biggar’s pinpoint cross-field kick found Rees-Zammit.
But the winger’s score was ruled out after replays showed he was out of the field of play when keeping the ball alive from a kick at the start of the move, meaning Wales went in at the interval 14-13 in front.
Volavola kicked 13-man Fiji ahead immediately after the restart before Tuisue jogged back on seven minutes into the second half.
Perhaps buoyed by a return to 14, Fiji put pressure on Wales, winning a number of penalties but Volavola missed the chance to extend their lead, pushing his kick wide after Tompkins was caught offside.
But they did not have to wait long for a score as Nayacalevu scored his second after putting the finishing touch on a wonderful free-flowing length-of-the-field move exhibiting all of Fiji’s flair.
Full-back Seta Tuicuvu claimed Biggar’s attempted 50:22 and chose to call a mark before tapping and going quickly after seeing plenty of space in front of him after a sloppy Welsh kick chase.
Tuicuvu dashed past two tackles before off-loading to Josua Tuisova who made the most of the two on one to feed his skipper, who charged down the touchline for a sensational try.
Volavola struck an excellent touchline conversion to put Fiji 23-14 ahead but Wales came roaring back into the contest.
The Fijians were once again reduced to 13 as replacement prop Eroni Mawi was yellow carded for bringing down a threatening maul.
Wales reloaded and Elias scored his second try in exactly the same fashion as his first, touching down after Wales mauled over but Biggar could not convert to leave them four adrift.
Wales looked like they may have butchered a heavy overlap on the right wing before Cuthbert, playing his first Test in four years, put in a quality diving finish in the corner to drag his side in front at 24-23, with Biggar’s replacement Callum Sheedy dragging the conversion wide.
Two tries in four minutes had changed the course of the game but Fiji looked dangerous with ball in hand and were back to 14 inside the last ten minutes.
However, when the grounding of Rees-Zammit’s exhilarating chip and chase try, the speedster winning a foot race despite giving away a huge head start, was confirmed by the TMO and Sheedy converted to put Wales eight points adrift, Fiji were finally beaten.
Player of the Match Liam Williams put some gloss on the scoreline with a breakaway try at the death, rounding off a pulsating encounter with the clock in the red.
