Fiji have pulled off a remarkable test triumph with their first win over France, getting home 21-14 in front of a stunned Stade de France crowd.
Mathieu Bastareaud fends off Fijian second five-eighth Jale Vatubua Photo: PANORAMIC
Both sides scored two tries but Fiji's France-based five-eighth Ben Volavola added 11 points with the boot to prove the difference as the Pacific islanders held the hosts scoreless in the second half to complete a rare success over a top-tier nation.
Semi Radradra stretched out for Fiji's opening try in the 20th minute, with France-based winger Josua Tuisova diving over for the second.
For France, captain Guilhem Guirado crashed over twice from driving mauls to give the home team a 14-12 half-time lead which they couldn't expand in a scoreless second spell.
Wallabies coach Michael has hit out at South African referee Jaco Peyper after a try-saving no-arms tackle by Owen Farrell went unpunished in his side's 37-18 defeat to England.
With the tourists trailing 13-10 on the stroke of halftime, Australia lock Izack Rodda went charging towards the line only to have his progress halted by the English co-captain.
Cheika's side had to instead settle for a Matt To'omua penalty to level the scores, only to fall apart in the second half as England ran in three tries to chalk up a record sixth successive test win over Australia.
The defeat was the ninth from 13 tests in 2018 for Cheika's side, who look a long way off replicating their 2015 World Cup heroics just 10 months from next year's showpiece in Japan.
In Cardiff, coach Warren Gatland says Wales won't get complacent after a record-setting night on Saturday saw them achieve a first clean sweep of their November internationals as well as a ninth successive test victory to confirm them as credible World Cup contenders.
"We're not getting too carried away. We'll just keep our heads down, work hard and start thinking about the Six Nations," he said after the 20-11 win over South Africa at the Principality Stadium underlined Wales' status as the world's third-ranked team.
Wales beat Scotland, Australia, Tonga and South Africa in their unprecedented November sweep, with Saturday's win the toughest as they were put under pressure for large parts of the game after scoring two early tries.
Wales have now beaten South Africa in their last four meetings.
And in Dublin, Ireland ran in eight tries in overwhelming the United States 57-14, with man of the match Andrew Conway bagging a hat-trick.
-Reuters
