Australia 21-18 Fiji: Harry Wilson's late try gives Wallabies dramatic win ahead of British and Irish Lions Tests
Captain Harry Wilson rescued a dramatic Australia win in their last international Test before they face the British and Irish Lions; watch every game of 2025 Lions tour, including all three Tests against Australia, live on Sky Sports with the first Test on July 19
Sunday 6 July 2025 12:25, UK
A last-gasp try by captain Harry Wilson saved Australia's blushes against Fiji as the Wallabies claimed a dramatic 21-18 win in their final Test before facing the British and Irish Lions.
Wilson twisted and spun over from close range after several minutes of Wallabies pressure to earn a narrow comeback victory that had appeared unlikely after a stunning Fijian rally.
The captain's try with fewer than two minutes remaining prevented what would have been a difficult two weeks of reflection for the Wallabies ahead of the series-opening Test against the British and Irish Lions in Brisbane on July 19, live on Sky Sports.
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"Such a tough game. It was awesome to go to battle with you guys. It's always a tough one," said Wilson.
Head coach Joe Schmidt admitted Australia's shaky victory reinforced the Lions' status as favourites to win the Test series.
Fiji were rampant in the second half in Newcastle and Schmidt insisted that "quiet resolve" rather than outright conviction would be his team's currency during the three Tests against Andy Farrell's tourists.
"We didn't play well enough for people to have the expectation that we're going to come bowling into Brisbane and knock the Lions over. I'm not sure that expectation was there before Fiji," Schmidt said.
"There's not real confidence but there's a quiet resolve, and that quiet resolve - hopefully over the three-match series - can build to something that will earn us the support of a very interested group.
"We haven't been together for six months. To have five trainings and to be seamless would be an expectation that I hoped for rather than immediately believed would happen. Now we have another short runway to improve on where we were against Fiji."
How shaky Australia beat Fiji
A spectacular long-range try for Fiji midway through the second half appeared to be enough for the visitors to claim a another famous victory over Australia - the latest being at the 2023 Rugby World Cup - before Wilson's late intervention.
After a frantic start from both teams, the Wallabies found the line through hooker Dave Porecki, playing his first Test in almost two years, when he dived over from the back of a rolling maul in the eighth minute and Noah Lolesio added the conversion.
The best move of the first half - frequently punctuated by stoppages which stifled any match momentum - led to the Wallabies' second try when a sweeping backline move featuring Len Ikitau and Joseph Sua'ali'i allowed Fraser McReight to score in the corner. Lolesio again converted to stretch the lead to 14-0.
Full-back Salesi Rayasi responded almost immediately for Fiji just before the half-time break, somehow finding space to wriggle through the defence and score in the corner after his team had counter-attacked from an ill-advised chip kick by the Wallabies.
The Australians had only needed to maintain possession for a few seconds to preserve a 14-point margin into the break. Fly-half Caleb Muntz missed the conversion from the sideline for a 14-5 half-time score.
The Wallabies may have dominated the first half but it was almost all Fiji in the second. Muntz added a penalty after the break to narrow the margin to six points before the Wallabies had their second try of the match disallowed after the referee spotted a forward pass.
The match was then upended by some vintage flying Fiji attack. After Jiuta Wainiqolo gained possession after broken play inside Fiji's half, the winger then slalomed his way through four defenders in a weaving run before guiding a looping pass for Lekima Tagitagivalu to score and spark jubilant celebrations by the large number of Fiji supporters. Muntz converted to give Fiji a 15-14 lead.
The Fijians almost went further ahead, appearing to score another thrilling try down the same flank but it was overruled by the TMO, who found that a player had stepped into touch while in possession in the lead up to the try.
Another Muntz penalty extended the lead to four points with 14 minutes remaining and meant Australia needed to score at least a try for victory.
The battered Wallabies have two weeks to recover before the much-anticipated first Test against the Lions.
On Saturday, the Lions maintained their unbeaten record on their Australian tour with a third straight win but delivered their least convincing performance yet against a depleted New South Wales Waratahs line-up missing most of its Wallabies.
The match ended with a hint of controversy, with Lions head coach Andy Farrell suggesting the Allianz Stadium surface had been intentionally over-watered by the Waratahs to disrupt his team's style of play.
The Lions have a tour match against Australia's strongest provincial team, the Brumbies, in Canberra on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports.
British and Irish Lions tour of Australia on Sky Sports
Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.
