Wales meets Fiji on Wednesday 9 October at Oita Stadium, Oita Prefecture. Kickoff is at 18:45 pm local time (5:45 ET). In the U.S, the match may be viewed on-demand on NBC Sports Gold and on TSN 1 and 4 in Canada.
Wales opened the RWC with a 43-14 win over Georgia, then defeated Australia 29-25. They finish pool play on Sunday against Uruguay.
Fiji opened with a 30-27 loss to Uruguay and then lost to Australia 39-21, before defeating Georgia 45-10.
Pool D standings have Australia with 11 points, Wales with 9, Fiji 7, Georgia 5, and Uruguay 4.
The Wallabies finish Pool play on Friday against Georgia, who sits in 4th place with 5 points.
Wales
Wales head coach Warren Gatland has made two changes in the back row with Ross Moriarty and James Davies in for Aaron Wainwright and Justin Tipuric, while Josh Navidi switches from number eight to blindside flanker.
Dan Biggar was cleared to play after satisfying the head injury protocols. Wainwright drops to the bench and Rhys Carre comes in for Nicky Smith as replacement loose-head.
Captain Alun Wyn Jones will pass George Gregan as the fourth most capped player of all time. He will also draw level with Gethin Jenkins on 18 RWC appearances and extend his Wales cap record to 131.
A Wales win would mean a trip to the quarter-finals, where they would face either England or France.
Fiji
Fiji coach John McKee has made one change to his starting XV with Viliame Mata replacing Peceli Yato at number eight, with Yato a reserve.
Ben Volavola, Fiji’s top points scorer at this World Cup, needs four more points on Wednesday to surpass Severo Koroduadua into second place on the all-time Fijian points list. Volavola has 37 points, with Nicky Little way in front with 125.
Lock Leone Nakarawa and prop Campese Ma’afu will move into joint second in the Fiji all-time list of RWC appearances with 12. This will tie them with Akapusi Qera with Little the record with 14 appearances across four tournaments.
If Leone Nakarawa makes one more carry, he will hold the outright record for Fiji in Rugby World Cup history. Nakarawa has 104 carries overall in RWC games, the joint-most for a Fijian player at the RWC, alongside Sisa Koyamaibole.
Fiji is third in the pool, a position that would guarantee them qualification for RWC 2023 in France. A win over Wales would put them into contention for a quarter-final place, which they last achieved in 2007.
Squads
Wales: 1. Wyn Jones 2. Ken Owens 3. Tom Francis 4. Jake Ball 5. Alun Wyn Jones (capt.) 6. Josh Navidi 7. James Davies 8. Ross Moriarty 9. Gareth Davies 10. Dan Biggar 11. Josh Adams 12. Hadleigh Parkes 13. Jonathan Davies 14. George North 15. Liam Williams 16. Elliot Dee 17. Rhys Carre 18. Dillon Lewis 19. Aaron Shingler 20. Aaron Wainwright 21. Tomos Williams 22. Rhys Patchell 23. Owen Watkin
Fiji: 1. Campese Ma’afu 2. Samuel Matavesi 3. Manasa Saulo 4. Tevita Cavubati 5. Leone Nakarawa 6. Dominiko Waqaniburotu (capt.) 7. Semi Kunatani 8. Viliame Mata 9. Frank Lomani 10. Ben Volavola 11. Semi Radradra 12. Lepani Botia 13. Waisea Nayacalevu 14. Josua Tuisova 15. Kini Murimurivalu 16. Mesulame Dolokoto 17. Eroni Mawi 18. Peni Ravai 19. Apisalome Ratuniyarawa 20. Peceli Yato 21. Nikola Matawalu 22. Jale Vatubua 23. Josh Matavesi
Other Articles
DJCoil Rugby articles by Doug Coil are also available on Facebook. Other Social Media sites to follow or subscribe include Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube for interviews.