The Wallabies and the Flying Fijians will face off in the 2nd match of the 2019 RWC on the 21st of Sep, 2019 at the Sapporo Dome in a Group D opener of this edition of the intercontinental tournament. Australia who are eyeing a 3rd World Cup trophy will be looking to hit the ground running with a win while Fiji will be looking to upset the Wallabies in the opening weekend as they look to navigate past the quarter finals for the very first time.
Wallabies vs Fiji Rugby World Cup 2019 Game Kickoff Time, Dates, Venue, What Channel Live Online is the Game
- What: Wallabies vs Fiji Rugby 2019 Live Stream
- When: Saturday, 21 September 2019
- Where: Sapporo
- Kickoff: 13:45 local, 04:45 GMT
- Television Match Official (TMO): Japan (host): IGBS
Most Recent Meeting
These two sides last met on the 10th of June, 2017 at the AAMI Park in Melbourne in a game where the Wallabies beat Fiji by 37-14. Henry Speight and Israel Folau scored quick tries with Foley adding a penalty to give Australia an early 15-0 lead. Folau added another penalty kick to give the hosts an 18-0 lead at the break. Folau scored his 2nd try immediately after the break while Fiji managed to get their first point in the 62nd minute via a Vereniki Goneva try and T. Nagusa added another 14 minutes later. However, any hopes for a comeback were quashed when Moore and Speight crossed the whitewash for the Wallabies.
Head to Head
These two sides have met 21 times in competitive games in history. Australia has as superior record over Fiji having won 18 of the 21 while Fiji has won only twice with the other game ending in a draw. Additionally, Australia has won the past 14consecutive meetings with Fiji and they haven’t lost in the past 17 outings.
Players to Watch
Australian captain Michael Hooper will be looking to lead his side as they try to cruise past a tricky Fiji side as they look to get their World Cup campaign off to a flying start. David Pocock also recovered in time to feature for Australia after being sidelined for over 6 months with a calf injury. It will be interesting to see whether Pocock peaks just in time to lead his side’s Fiji assault.
Frank Lomani and Nikola Matawalu are two of the few players in the Fiji squad that ply their trade outside of South America and the half-backs will be looking to show the world why they earned a place in the highly coveted world cup Fijian squad. Equally keen to impress will be Vereniki Goneva against a side which he scored a try when they last met.
Game Prediction
The Wallabies boast an 81% WC games win rate having won 39 and lost nine in 48 World Cup appearances. They have also managed to score 4.35 tries per game and 34.27 points on average in all WC games. Meanwhile, Fiji has a 36% win rate in WC games having won 10 and lost 18 out of 28 outings. Equally, they have averaged 2.46 tries per game and 22.21 points on average in all RWC games. Australia comes into this game having won 4 games in 5 while Fiji has managed 3 wins in the past 5.
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