15. Israel Folau: 7.5
The game didn’t quite open up for him but every time he had the ball, he just looked so menacing, usually beating at least two defenders with every touch. Was the sharpest weapon in the Aussie backline, but perhaps put the ball on his boot a couple of times when he could have run. Defended well, too, and even pinched a couple of turnovers.

14. Adam Ashley-Cooper: 5.5
Mr Reliable got off to a very shaky start with a lost ball in contact and a scuffed kick, but recovered to mostly deal with Nadolo pretty well. Not as busy as usual though and had a pretty quiet night.

13. Tevita Kuridrani: 6.5
Loses half a mark for his sin-binning which, whilst harsh, was due to not listening to the ref more than anything. Very little chance with the ball in hand but boy, his defence was impressive. Weighed in with some shuddering hits and his battle with his cousin Nadolo was something to behold. I like to think they just pretended that they were back on the beach in Fiji.

12. Matt Giteau: 7
A calming influence in the backline and he swept up some messy loose ball more than once. Communicated well with Foley and his boot was well utilised.

11. Rob Horne: 6
Pretty much a spectator when the Wallabies had the ball and had little chance to shine – and when he did come off his wing, he was clattered. Still, made 10 tackles (more than any other Aussie back) so a strong defensive effort.

10. Bernard Foley: 7
Like Genia, Foley did the basics right without shredding Fiji apart like we saw him do to teams in 2014. His distribution was slick and kicking was mostly on the money – especially off the tee, where he has looked wobbly before – so he should be pretty chuffed with his display.

9. Will Genia: 6
Solid rather than spectacular. Have good service to Foley throughout but, aside from a promising early dart, didn’t explore the fringes perhaps as much as he should have done.

1. Scott Sio: 6
Part of a cracking – and pretty disciplined – battle in the scrum and was busy in defence. Faded in the second half but he now has a World Cup appearance under his belt to cap a remarkable rise over the last year.

2. Stephen Moore: 5.5
Started well and led by example by charging headlong into the Fijian defence on several occasions. Rather him than me. But the line-out disintegrated in the second half under his watch, which is worrying.

3. Sekope Kepu: 7
We all love to see a prop stepping and scoring, and his powerful finish definitely earns him an extra point. Not always on top in the set-piece, but a big effort.

4. Kane Douglas: 6.5
Looking like he’d just come straight from a longboat, crying “Valhallah’, Douglas did the graft he was selected for. Stood up well to the physicality of the Islanders in the loose.

5. Rob Simmons: 6
Like his locking partner, plenty of industry in the loose – but he loses half a mark for failing to spot the gap for Volavola’s try. He was the inside defender so it was his responsibility to bust a gut to get across – instead, he jogged. To be fair, he looked knackered by that point.

6. Scott Fardy: 6
More tireless stuff from the blindside. He had a couple of promising gallops too which came as a nice surprise, as the back row in general struggled to make an impact against their big tackling opponents.

7. Michael Hooper: 8
Colossal effort in defence, despite obviously being a fan of the INXS hair-cut. Made 22 tackles and was a barrel of energy throughout – although the one occasion he was ‘sat down’ spectacularly will really grate him.

8. David Pocock: 9
The other part of the ‘Pooper’ combination (teehee) was simply magnificent. He was thunderous in the tackle and was almost impossible to defend against at the breakdown as he reconfirmed his status as the best pilferer in World Rugby. Yes, he gave away a couple of penalties but he earned far more turnovers for his side, and scored a brace from two well-controlled mauls as well. Man of the match.

Replacements: 5
No real positive impacts of note, with James Slipper rather being at the end of one huge head-on-head impact, restricting his appearance to just over 10 minutes. Will Skelton added some muscle in defence and Nick Phipps had bags of energy, making some superb cover tackles in the frantic last few minutes.

By Mike Cooper (@RuckedOver)

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images