Wales player ratings vs Fiji | Nations Championship 2026

Steve Tandy’s Wales got their Nations Championship campaign off to a perfect start at the home of Cardiff football with a 39-24 win over Fiji.

Staring down what could have been a long afternoon when Fiji scored in the opening few minutes, Wales showed great composure to absorb waves of Fijian attack and head into the break locked at ten points apiece.

Coming out in the second half with a clear plan, Wales scored two quick-fire tries through Rhys Carre and Josh Adams to take a two-score lead.

Fixture

Nations Championship

Fiji

24 - 39

Full-time

Wales

All Stats and Data

Frustratingly for Tandy and his coaching staff, this good work came close to being undone, with Fiji answering right back with two tries of their own through Elia Canakaivata and Selestino Ravutaumada.

Steadying themselves, Wales displayed a maturity unseen in recent years by reverting to their forward dominance and scoring a fifth try, this time through replacement hooker Ryan Elias.

Here is how the Welsh players rated.

1. Rhys Carre – 7.5
Blitzed Tim Hoyt at the first scrum opportunity to give his side the perfect attacking platform five metres out from the Fijian line. Starting the second half equally brightly, the loosehead capitalised on his side’s first true deep strike when he powered over from close range.

2. Dewi Lake – 8
Hit his marks at line-out time, scrummaged exceptionally well and orchestrated the Welsh mauling game, which proved to be their best attacking asset. Throughout his 62 minutes on the pitch, the skipper made 14 tackles, 5 carries and was a general nuisance at the breakdown.

3. Dillon Lewis – 6
Scrummaged exceptionally well to put Eroni Mawi under immense pressure during their 45-minute head-to-head. In open play, the 30-year-old put himself about with 9 tackles and a solid effort at the breakdown.

4. Ben Carter – 7.5
Far from a flashy performance, the big lock had a meat-and-potatoes afternoon. Trucking through a ton of work at the breakdown, winning line-out ball and getting firmly into the teens in the tackle count, Carter was to the fore of everything positive his side accomplished. Of all his moments, the line-out take in the build-up to Ryan Elias’s try was top drawer.

5. Adam Beard – 7
Fronted up well in the face of an exceptionally physical and fast Fijian attack. Pulling off a pair of key turnovers, getting through 15 tackles and winning three line-outs, Beard handled the physicality of the Fijian pack with aplomb.

6. Alex Mann – 6.5
Complemented his back-row teammates beautifully with a confrontational defensive effort. Getting stuck into the breakdown, Mann did well to wrap up Fijian carriers and get them to ground.

7. Jac Morgan – 8.5
Directed his pack over the line for an important maul try in the 10th minute. Fast forward 20 minutes and the back-row was driving over for another try that lifted the valve on what was becoming unbearable Fijian pressure. Away from the tries, the British and Irish Lion showed his class at the breakdown, stifling several promising Fijian attacks with key turnovers. As is now expected, Morgan topped the tackle charts with 19.

8. Aaron Wainwright – 7
Relished the opportunity to get on the ball with several big rumbles over the gain line, notably from line-outs where he was routinely the first option. Carrying nine times for 30 metres and beating two defenders is not an all-time stat line, but given the pressure Wales were under, his willingness to carry into traffic cannot be underrated.

9. Tomos Williams – 7.5
Two missed tackles on Jiuta Wainiqolo inside the opening 90 seconds were ominous. So it proved, as the Fijians scored the opening try a minute later from broken play. Parking this slow start, Williams grew into the contest with a few incisive snipes around the ruck. His best work was arguably done in defence, where he doubled up with Edwards to stop heavy Fijian traffic coming down the ten channel and had a few crucial interventions, notably a 62nd-minute interception.

10. Dan Edwards – 5
Caught the attention of a few big Fijian hits on both sides of the ball, which in time saw him sit deeper. Giving the Fijian defence an extra second to line up the Welsh backline really nullified the backline strike plays. From the kicking tee, Edwards had an off day, which ultimately put his side under pressure.

11. Josh Adams – 7.5
Had a few key defensive interventions when Wales had been opened up by Fijian counter-attacks. Conversely, the ball did not come his way in the first half, but he showed all of his experience for the ultimate opportunistic try in the 45th minute. Watching Selestino Ravutaumada jog back to cover a kick through, Adams dived between his legs to snatch a second Welsh try in three minutes.

12. Joe Hawkins – 6
Arguably under-utilised in the kicking game, where he had one interesting first-half kick that should have put Fiji under pressure but ultimately set up a Salesi Rayasi counter-attack. Lacking a clinical chase, the Fijian fullback slipped between two Welsh defenders when one would have expected Wales to pin Fiji on their line. Defensively, Hawkins was industrious in covering Edwards, making 17 tackles and missing another four.

13. Eddie James – 7.5
Did exceptionally well defensively against a Fijian side hellbent on attacking from all corners of the pitch. His communication was evident on both sides of the ball, as he could be seen gesturing to his inside backs when to put width on the game and when to kick. Closing his account with a powerful score in the 79th minute was just reward for the big centre.

14. Louis Rees-Zammit – 4
Nearly had an early score, only to get tangled up with Dan Edwards, allowing Fiji to clear their lines. This moment aside, the Bristol Bears star was relatively quiet, spending most of his afternoon chasing down Fijian counter-attacks.

15. Blair Murray – 8.5
Did exceptionally well to deny Fiji a try in the 17th minute, forcing Selestino Ravutaumada into a knock-on with the line at his mercy. Three minutes later, the fullback stopped another certain try when he pounced on Kitione Salawa. Launching his side’s first real strike early in the second half with a superb aerial take, the fullback was the catalyst for a vastly improved second-half team performance.

Substitutes – 8
Doing exactly what Tandy would have hoped, the Welsh bench proved to be the difference, with a fierce impact from Ryan Elias and Sam Costelow in particular. In the front row, the trio of Elias, Nicky Smith and Ben Warren did superbly at scrum time just when the starters began to cede their superiority. Returning to Costelow, the Scarlets playmaker calmed things down for his side with a clever kicking game and consistency from the tee.