Wales cruise past Fiji

Wales confirmed their place in the World Cup quarter-finals on Sunday with a comfortable 66-0 win over a second-string Fiji side in Hamilton.

Wales secured a four-try bonus point in the first half of a one-sided affair and will now face either Australia or Ireland in Wellington next Saturday.

Wales went on to run in a total of nine unanswered tries and landed all their kicks in yet another impressive display in both the set-pieces and from their free-running backs.

Fiji arrived with somewhat naive tactics and selected a team based on the concept of "having fun", but they could not have enjoyed being run ragged by a better-organised Welsh side.

Tries from Jamie Roberts, Scott Williams, George North and Sam Warburton gave Wales a 31-0 lead at the break to put any doubts over the final result to bed.

The Fijian defence was cut to shreds at regular intervals and with the weather conditions deteriorating, Roberts claimed his brace before tries from Lloyd Burns, Leigh Halfpenny, Lloyd Williams and Jonathan Davies rubbed salt into the Fijian wounds.

Despite the lopsided scoreline, Wales coach Warren Gatland will not be entirely happy with the performance as his side were heavily penalised at the breakdown, especially for leaving their feet.

But one cannot deny that Wales will take plenty of momentum into the knock-out stages as arguably the most impressive northern hemisphere side on display.

Man of the match:  Plenty of names to choose from with two-try Roberts and skipper Warburton strong candidates.  But the official award went to barnstorming wing George North for his eye-catching runs and offloads.  We won't argue.

Moment of the match:  A handful of quality tries to choose from, but we'll go for Jamie Roberts's opening try off the back of a line-out lost by Fiji.  Not only did Roberts pick the perfect angle for his run, but it set the tone for things to come.  Fiji never looked like recovering.

Villain of the match:  No nasty stuff to report

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Roberts 2, Sc. Williams, North, Warburton, Burns, Halfpenny, L. Williams, Davies
Cons:  Priestland 5, S. Jones 4
Pen:  Priestland

The teams:

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 George North, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Leigh Halfpenny, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Ryan Jones, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Paul James , 18 Alun Wyn Jones, 19 Andy Powell, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Jonathan Davies.

Fiji:  15 Iliesa Lomani Rakuka Keresoni, 14 Albert James Vulivuli, 13 Ravai Susau Fatiaki, 12 Gaby Lovobalavu, 11 Michael Tagicakibau, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Vitori Tomu Buatava, 8 Netani Edward Talei (c), 7 Sakiusa Matadigo, 6 Rupeni Nasiga, 5 Wame Lewaravu, 4 Leone Nakarawa, 3 Setefano Somoca, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Waisea Nailago.
Replacements:  16 Viliame Veikoso, 17 Campese Ma'afu, 18 Akapusi Qera, 19 Mala Ravulo, 20 Nemia Kenatale, 21 Seremaia Bai, 22 Vereniki Goneva.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Stuart Terheege (England)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)