Wales were pushed to the limit by an outstanding Fiji side but showed great character to come from behind twice to secure a place in the quarter-finals.
And Dragons back-rower Moriarty insists Wales’ pre-World Cup camps in Switzerland and Turkey paid dividends in the final quarter of a pulsating test match.
“There were a lot of ‘ooh’ moments out there,” said Moriarty.
“Luckily I wasn’t on the end of many of them. It was tough.
“We knew Fiji were going to be dangerous. They showed that in the first 15 minutes. It was backs against the wall.
“We dropped off a few tackles but we showed a lot of character to come back. We didn’t panic, I don’t think.
“We knew if we sticked to our process we would pull them back in but when you see some of them running around it is a tough one to defend. It was a great win and a very enjoyable game.
“They are very, very strong and they showed that today with the wingers cannonballing through a lot of tackles. We will review this one and look forward to the Uruguay game.
“Luckily there were a few stoppages with injuries. I think everyone had to get their breath back.
“But with the conditioning we’ve been doing, we’ve been recovering quickly and I did feel that I was recovering a lot quicker than I used to. I felt good, and I think the other boys did too.”
Scarlets lock Jake Ball had another prominent game in Oita as the Wales pack fought for every inch. And Ball believes the confidence the side will take after coming from behind twice will be invaluable in the latter stages of the competition.
“Even when we were down, there is a belief within this squad,” he said.
“We knew that if we could get our hands on this ball, keep it, we could try and get in their half and score points. I think their backs were just as big as their forwards.
“They obviously had nothing to lose in that game, came out and expressed themselves, played with a lot of flow and got some great offloads away which are difficult to defend against.”
