Jevon Groves’ side managed to finish on a high note against Portugal with a gritty 20-12 victory over Portugal but the damage had already been done by then.
In their opening game against Australia, Wales simply couldn’t get into the game in the first half and trailed 22-0 at the break.
Craig Price forced his way over early in the second half but that was as good as it got as Australia cantered to a 36-5 victory.
Fiji proved unstoppable in the second game of the afternoon. The flying Fijians raced to a 28-0 lead at the break but a mini-revival by Wales halted a landslide.
Will Harries finishes off a 50m move after good work by Lloyd Evans and Jevon Groves. Dangerman Luke Morgan, who had been starved of possession all day, showed his finishing prowess to race over wide out before Ross Jones showed a great turn of speed to convert his own try, to bring Wales back into contention, but Fiji finished strongly to record a 42-19 win.
Wales began brightly against Portugal where impressive hooker Lloyd Evans scored his first try in the world series before Groves and winger Alex Webber added touchdowns.
Will Harries ran the length of the field early in the second half to consolidate Wales’ grip on the game and despite a late rally from Portugal, Groves led his men to their solitary win of the day in a tough group.
Wales will now drop down to the Bowl where they will face Papua New Guinea in the quarter-finals while in the Cup quarter-finals the USA will play Scotland, hosts New Zealand await Australia in a trans-Tasman match, Ben Ryan comes face-to-face with his old side as Fiji meet England and Kenya’s reward for winning Pool D is a match with South Africa.
