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Wallabies warm up for Tri-nations with win

Australia's George Gregan, front, hugs Fiji's Mosese Raluni at the end of the rugby international in Perth yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

Australia warmed up for their Tri-nations campaign with a record-breaking 49-0 win over an undermanned Fiji in Perth yesterday at Subiaco Oval.

The Wallabies open their Tri-nations campaign next Saturday in South Africa and used the clash with the Fijians, who were missing a number of their likely World Cup players, to try some final experimentation ahead of greater challenges.

The home side still did not look in the sort of form that might cause their Tri-nations or World Cup rivals too much anxiety, with some sloppy ball handling, but they were nevertheless a class above the Fijians in front of 20,108 fans.

It was a record winning margin in 17 Tests between the sides.

And it was also the first time the Wallabies had held their opponents scoreless in consecutive Tests, having beaten Wales 31-0 the previous weekend.

It took the Australians just over five minutes to notch the first of five tries they scored in the opening half on their way to a 30-0 lead.

At the break, the Wallabies had enjoyed 85 per cent of the possession, and the Fijians had missed 33 tackles, compared with just four by Australia.

Fiji's Mosese Raluni, top right, is tackled by Australia's James Horwill, left, during the rugby Test at Subiaco Oval in Perth, Australia, yesterday. PHOTO: AP

The Wallabies added another three tries after the break as the visitors improved their defense, while the Fijians never got near the try line and rarely got into the Australian half.

In his first Test on Australian soil, local favorite Scott Staniforth opened the scoring for the Wallabies when he juggled the ball over for a try after a brilliant piece of evasion by Adam Ashley-Cooper in the sixth minute.

In the 16th minute, Julian Huxley made a good break and then got a nice return pass from a lively Drew Mitchell to bring up the second try.

Unfortunately for Huxley, his kicking boot deserted him and he missed the conversion in a portent of what was to come.

One disappointment for the Wallabies was the kicking of Huxley, who managed just three of eight conversion attempts, at one stage missing four in a row.

In his comeback game, man-of-the-match Lote Tuqiri added a third try when he was on the end of a clever inside pass from Staniforth in the 27th minute, before the flying winger scored his second try by diving under a tackle just seven minutes later.

The Fijians' problems intensified when Henry Qiodravu was sin-binned late in the half and the Wallabies immediately capitalized, with Staniforth scoring his second try in the corner.

After half-time, Stephen Larkham put a rusty first half behind him to get on the end of a George Gregan pass in the 47th minute and cross under the posts.

Sam Norton-Knight came off the Wallabies bench and benefited from a Phil Waugh intercept to score his first Test try with his first touch of the game in the 56th minute, before Ashley-Cooper added another try in the 68th minute.

Tuqiri was denied a third try by the video official.

The Fijians could not get their hands on the ball for most of the night, and when they did they kicked it away. They failed to find touch on almost every occasion.

Their only scoring opportunity was a missed penalty kick early in the second half.

Wallabies' captain Phil Waugh said he was mostly pleased with the result.

"We're reasonably happy, we played our own game," Waugh said. "We know there is still a lot of work to do. We're covering the field pretty well."
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