Wales have held off a brave effort from 14-man Fiji to bounce back from consecutive defeats and secure their first victory of the Autumn Nations Series.

After visitors Fiji made an impressive start at the Principality Stadium by taking the lead through captain Waisea Nayacalevu, the match was seemingly set to turn when winger Eroni Sau was sent off for a swinging elbow on Alex Cuthbert.

But despite two further yellow cards, either side of half time, Fiji were able to retake the lead when Nayacalevu added his second in a sensational team score, after Wales had briefly hit back through Keiran Hardy and Ryan Elias.

And it wasn’t until late in the match that Wales were able to breathe comfortably, with Louis Rees-Zammit producing an electric finish after chasing down his own kick and player-of-the-match Liam Williams adding a sixth try when the clock was in the red.

Fiji, though, almost triumphed over adversity after Sau was red-carded for a dangerous tackle after 25 minutes. Captain Waisea Nayacalevu scored two tries – his second score being a spectacular team try – while fly-half Ben Volavola kicked 13 points.

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