Australia 49 Fiji 3
Well, now we know what Rupeni Caucaunibuca has been doing for the past few years - and it hasn't been training.
The brilliant but difficult winger who set New Zealand rugby alight back in the early-to-mid-2000s has never had a love affair with the fitness required for top level rugby and he turned up for this match at centre and apparently weighing in at over 120kg.
Jonah Lomu used to persuade the needle of the scales round to about 119kg but he never carried what appeared to be a paddling pool around his middle.
Rupeni, still playing for second division Agen in France but making noises about returning to Super 15 next year, was never going to take the game by storm as he so often used to do for the Blues. It was mostly defensive work once Australia started to dominate possession and territory and drove through their forwards.
The Wallabies started nervously, with handling errors aplenty, and the Fijians could have scored early when fullback Kurtley Beale muffed a catch, demonstrating he is nowhere near as good going back as he is going forward.
The Australians have an injury list almost as long as the All Blacks' (Will Genia, Peter Hynes, Stephen Moore, Benn Robinson, Stirling Mortlock, Tatafu Polota-Nau and James Horwill are all out for varying periods). Their combinations and accuracy weren't up to much in the first half.
Beale scored the first try after some slick passing by the backs - Quade Cooper's distribution from first five continues to be a delight and he shapes as an increasingly dangerous player. If he looked any more like Carlos Spencer, he'd have to live in Horowhenua.
The first try often has a settling effect in such games but the Australians continued erratically for most of the first half, spilling chances for two more tries.
That was helped by a surprisingly good performance by the Fijian pack, which included former Waikato and Chiefs prop Deacon Manu and some big, mobile men for whom the new rule interpretations are good news.
The Wallabies are clearly trialling an attacking game and could have played it tight but chose to keep the ball moving wide.
Cooper's clever short pass put Wallaby centre Rob Horne through a big gap and, from the tackled ball, No 8 Richard Brown scored on the angle - saving Australia's blushes by taking the score to 14-3 at halftime.
The Fijians started well in the second half but made a hash of an attacking ruck. The Wallabies kicked the ball through as despairing Fijians tried unsuccessfully to trap the ball, the kick-and-chase breakaway ending ended with a try to Cooper after a 90m movement.
The Fijians were attacking again when the ball came loose, Wallaby winger Digby Ioane picked up and side-stepped into the clear, burning off Caucaunibuca in a 45m sprint to score.
Halfback Emosi Vucago was yellow-carded soon after and the match was over as a contest at that point, even though the Fijians did well with 14 men.
The Wallabies have a way to go to get their combinations working well but they will be happy enough with getting past these awkward customers.
Cooper was man of the match, wings Adam Ashley-Cooper and Ioane played well and locks Nathan Sharpe and Dean Mumm got through a power of work.
Tries to Drew Mitchell and Ioane again - after sharp running from Beale - saw the score mount. Beale got his second after Fiji's replacement prop Graham Dewes went to the sin bin for throwing a punch.
The Australians copped another blow, however, with Brumbies prop Ben Alexander, one of the successes of the Super 14, on crutches after a leg injury.
Australia 49 (K. Beale 2, R. Brown, Q. Cooper, D. Ioane 2, D. Mitchell tries; M. Giteau 6 cons, Cooper con), Fiji 3 (D. Rawaqa pen). Halftime:14-3.
