Battling Fiji made Australia look grateful for the final whistle as the Pacific Islanders denied their opponents what could be a crucial bonus point in a bruising encounter.

The Wallabies looked to have won the game comfortably at half time with a 18-3 lead as Fiji looked tired from their exertions five days earlier against England.

The Southern Hemisphere champions had continued their fine recent form in the first half as man-of-the-match David Pocock scored two tries.

The third Wallaby try went to Sekope Kepu in the opening minutes of the second half from a third successful driving maul.

But it was Australia who ended up scrambling to keep out a constant barrage of Fijian attacks in the final quarter of the game.

The Pacific Islanders had looked tired as they continually moved the ball laterally, failing to make much headway.

But they rallied and their desperate attacks led to the Fijians moving the ball like a sevens game, taking crazy risks.

Fly half Ben Volavola made up for some handling and kicking errors with two show-and-go darting runs that eventually gave him and the Islanders a fine try.

Wave after wave of Fiji attacks pounded the Australia defence with the crowd willing Fiji to score.

Referee Glen Jackson warned Wallaby skipper Stephen Moore that the constant stream of penalties his side were conceding would lead to a sin-binning and he was as good as his word with just eight minutes to go.

The Millennium stadium reverberated to the sounds of Sweet Chariot as all the neutrals took the Pacific islanders to their hearts, willing them to mount a comeback.

But the stubborn Aussie defence held out.

The second-half score stood at 10-10, which gave Fiji coach John McKee some satisfaction.

“The Wallabies played well in the first half and we made some errors, but we had a great second half and the boys were amazing,” McKee noted.

Wallaby coach Michael Cheika tried to play down his side failing to get a bonus point, claiming that it was about just winning the game.

“We were very pleased to have a win in our first game because we haven’t played that much recently,” Cheika said.

The coach praised his two open-side flankers Pocock and Michael Hooper and noted with satisfaction how well his team’s rolling maul had worked.

“I’m aiming to make a complete team change for the Uruguay game so that everyone in the squad gets some match time,” Cheika added.