They are back to celebrate the 60th anniversary of their ground-breaking first tour to the UK in November when they kick-off the 2024 Autumn Nations Series at Principality Stadium. They will return to the Welsh capital on the back of a stunning triumph over Japan to clinch the Pacific Nations Cup and ready to thrill Welsh fans once again with their no-holds-barred approach.
Back in 1964, they came into the game against a Wales XV at the old Cardiff Arms Park after three warm-up matches. Then put on a show that mesmerised the 50,000 fans who turned up to watch.
It ended Wales XV 28 – 22 Fiji after a game that featured no fewer than 13 tries and 50 points. Rugby in the late Fifties and early Sixties wasn’t always the greatest spectacle, but this was free-flowing and unforgettable.
It was still the era of kicking directly to touch from anywhere on the field with 30+ scrums and as many line-outs per game. Wales may have possessed some great backs, but they rarely saw the ball.
In the 23 internationals prior to the historic first fixture with the Fijians, Wales had failed to score a try in 10 of them and had managed to score only 19 tries.
The magnificent seven tries scored against the Fijians was the highest tally by a Welsh side in 42 years since they ran in eight against England in 1922. The 13 in the match were the most in a Welsh international since England scored that many in the first fixture in 1881.
The Wales team from 1964
THE FIRST FIJIANS IN WALES
The WRU never really received the praise they deserved for being the first nation to welcome the Fijians to the UK. They shared the 10-match tour with the French and ended up making a decent profit after nearly 110,000 fans turned out to watch their games against Bridgend & Maesteg XV (W 23-13), Glamorgan & Monmouthshire XV (L 23-22), Western Counties (W 12-6), Wales XV (L 28-22) and Abertillery & Newbridge XV (D 11-11).
The WRU went out on a limb when they invited the Fijians to tour. The International Rugby Board grudgingly gave its approval, but none of the other Home Unions were prepared to share in the venture.
Eventually the French jumped on board and the Fijians were invited to play five games in Wales and a further five in France. They also played Victoria and a Canadian XV on their way home in British Colombia.
The idea for the tour came in 1959 when Chief Ratu Edward, a Fijian representative who had been educated at Oxford University, approached the WRU at a meeting in Cardiff to discuss the possibility. A formal request from the Fijian Rugby Board, who had as their secretary a Welshman from the Gower, Derek Robinson, was handed to the WRU by the Australian sportswriter Phil Tressider in 1961.
The WRU had to underwrite the tour to the tune of £10,000 but stood strong when others around them turned their noses up at the idea and sanctioned the trip. In the end, they made a profit of more than £12,000 as the Welsh crowds flocked to watch the free-running Fijians.
There were 10,000 at the Brewery Field to see the Suva policeman Suliasi Daunitutu bulldoze his way over for the first Fijian try on Welsh soil on 12 September 1964 in a 23-12 win over a Combined Bridgend-Maesteg XV. It ended five tries to two in favour over the Fijians, while it was five tries apiece when they were pipped 23-22 by a Combined Glamorgan-Monmouthshrie XV at Newport four days later in front of another big crowd.
They beat a Western Counties XV 12-6 at Stradey Park in front of a crowd of 15,000 and there were even more at Abertillery Park, 17,000, to see the tourists draw 11-11 with a Combined Abertillery-Newbridge XV.
They won only one of their five games in France but got back to winning ways on the return leg of their journey with wins over British Colombia and Canada to complete an excellent tour.
Match Day Programme
They arrived in Wales after making a two-day flight from Fiji to London. Three days later they played their first fixture at the Brewery Field.
For the uncapped game at the Arms Park John Williams was conducting the St Alban’s Band on the field before kick-off and after the anthems the Fijians did their war dance as they threw down the gauntlet to Wales. The crowd loved it!
The game flowed from end to end from the first minute. It was played at breakneck speed and the Welsh side, led in the absence of the injured Clive Rowlands by Brian Price, dominated the first half. It certainly helped their cause that the Fijians lost their giant lock Vereniki Nalio with a dislocated shoulder after only 10 minutes.
Wales led by six points, scoring three tries to two and adding a penalty, at the interval and then added a further four tries and two conversions after the break as the score rose to 28-9 with 12 minutes to go. It looked, from the stands at least, as though it was going to be a landslide victory against the gallant 14 Fijians, but they had other ideas.
Throwing the ball about in the way only they know how to, they got back to within six points against a team featuring 11 current and four future capped players. This wasn’t supposed to happen, but it turned into one of the most joyous rugby matches of all time – it was simply sensational stuff!
The Fijian tight-head prop Sevaro Walisoliso slalomed his way to a hat-trick of tries and the great Aca Soqosoqo got another. The players linked arms at the end as they joined in with the crowd in singing “Now is the Hour” by way of tribute and farewell to one of the most popular touring teams to ever visit our shores. They came, they thrilled and they almost conquered!
Now they are back again to open the 2024 Autumn Nations Series – and they will arrive as the newly crowned Pacific Nations Cup winners after that big win over Japan in the final that took them up to ninth place in the World Rugby Rankings.
Fiji match worn jersey.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE 1964 EPIC . . .
Newport and Wales outside half David Watkins: “No-one really knew what to expect from Fiji. It was a new beginning as far as rugby was concerned, the emergence of Fiji as a rugby nation. They were out to prove a point to the International Rugby Board, to show that they were capable of matching their skills and abilities against the home nations. They were all massive, they could motor, had huge body strength, and hands so big that they could hide the ball in them – people in Wales were amazed at their size and how they operated as a team.”
Wales XV captain Brian Price: “They drew enormous crowds as everybody took to them. In the clubhouses after games they would all get out the guitars and sing, they were such characters. We had a terrific side out for the non-cap match. John Lloyd, Denzil Williams and Norman Gale were in the front row, with John Mantle and myself behind them. There was a strong back-row – I remember Alun Pask scoring a fantastic try – and behind you had people like David Watkins – it was a team packed with full internationals.”
Maurice Scott, the president of Fiji RFU, who flew 10,000 miles to watch the game: “It was worth every mile and every penny. Players of both teams met each other half-way in a wonderful spirit. It was the sporting thrill of a lifetime.”
Cliff Jones, the former Welsh international outside half and a vice-president of the WRU, described the game as “an absolute Rugby feast.”
Tom Voyce, past RFU president and a great England and British & Irish Lions back row forward, said: “It is a memory I shall cherish for the rest of my days.”
Writing in the Daily Mirror, Peter Laker reckoned the game “must rank as one of the most exciting and skilful exhibitions of pure Rugby ever seen in Britain.”
The WRU sent an official message to their Fijian counterparts at the end of the tour: “We wish to express our grateful thanks to every member of the Fijian touring party for this glorious tour. They have inspired our players to excel themselves and have joined with them to recall the former glory and joy of the Rugby game.”
At the launch of the Fijian centennial jersey in December, 2013, the Fijian Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, referenced the importance of the 1964 tour to Wales.
“It’s hard to believe, but Fijian rugby owes much to the Welsh Rugby Union. That’s right, the Welsh. In 1964, their hospitality opened the door to Europe and the world for Fijian rugby and we have never looked back. The 1964 tour to Wales, France and Canada showcased Fiji to a legion of new supporters, coaches and administrators who took an interest in Fiji that they haven’t shaken since. There can be little doubt that the honour that fell to Fiji of being the only international union to make a tour of England in 1970 – the centenary year of the Rugby Football Union – was a direct result of the impact of the 1964 tour on the British rugby public.”
The Times were equally enthusiastic about the occasion, their headline reading “Enjoyment the key note of Fijian rugby – Welsh respond to carefree appraoch”. Their rugby correspondent waxed lyrical in his report: “The old cackled delightedly at happy memories revived, the young rubbed their eyes in disbelief at Cardiff, where on Saturday two teams played fast, exciting, attacking Rugby as though unashamed of actually enjoying it.”
Wales XV: Terry Price (Llanelli); David Weaver (Swansea), Maurice Richards (Cardiff), Dave Thomas (Aberavon), Dewi Bebb (Swansea); David Watkins (captain), Allan Lewis (Abertillery); Denzil Williams (Ebbw Vale), Norman Gale (Llanelli), John Lloyd (Cardiff College of Education), John Mantle, Brian Price (Newport, captain), Gary Prothero (Bridgend), Dai Hayward (Cardiff), Alun Pask (Abertillery)
Scorers: Tries: D Thomas 2, D Bebb 2, A Pask, D Weaver, G Prothero; Cons: T Price 2; Pen: D Watkins
Fiji: Seru Tuisese; Aporosa Robe, Josateki Nasova, Petero Rasiseteki, Suliasi Daunitutu; George Barley, Jese Mucunabitu; Suliasi Cavu (captain), Ulaiasi Tukana, Sevaro Walisoliso, Jope Naucabalavu, Vereniki Nalio, Aca Soqosoqo, Sela Toga, Joeli Naucabalavu
Scorers: Tries: S Walisoliso 3, A Soqosoqo, J Mucunabitu, P Rasiseteki; Cons: G Barley 2
Referee: Bernard Marie (France)
