10:00 John Evely

Daily Telegraph journalist Charlie Richardson on how Semi Radradra gave one of the World Cup's greatest individual performances in the loss to Wales

There was a moment towards the end of Fiji’s courageous battle with a bloody-minded, erratic Wales side that lingers in the mind.

Wales were clinging onto a five-point lead, desperately holding out against irrepressible waves of Fijian attack, when Rhys Patchell got the chance to clear the ball downfield.

The Wales replacement fly-half put in an immaculate clearing kick, which travelled beyond the halfway line from its starting point well within the Wales 22.

Fiji’s full-back Kini Murimurivalu took receipt of the kick and immediately threw a gigantic pass - a quick throw-in - 30 metres across the field to Fiji’s sole player in the backfield, Semi Radradra.

The sheer distance between Radradra and Murimurivalu meant that the latter’s pass was never going to arrive into Radradra’s hands unblemished. The ball skidded off the humid turf into the lap of Radradra; the bounce of the ball en route to Radradra ensuring that Wales’ chasers - Alun Wyn Jones, Ross Moriarty, and Owen Watkin - had time to restrict his space.

But what happened next was mystifying; it was rugby witchcraft.

Radradra stopped running - he came almost to a total standstill. Isolated, alone, and staring down the barrel of a fearsome, Shaun Edwards-tinged Welsh defence, Radradra decided that the best way to get himself out of a situation that was looking increasing dire with every passing millisecond was to halt his own momentum, to shut down and stop. To open himself up to a thumping shoulder from the onrushing Wales captain, or from their most pugnacious defender.

The thumping never came. Radradra channeled his inner Merlin, his inner Gold-medal winning Sevens experience, hopping and skipping into the air. He stepped off his right foot - almost at a right-angle - and set off laterally towards the touchline. His injection of pace was such that he was already round Watkin after two paces and, by the time Waisea Nayacalevu had tracked back to help his compatriot, Radradra had rounded Moriarty, too.

The Fiji wing galloped down the left tramline, Moriarty and Watkin in his wake, and if replacement centre Jale Vatubua had been anywhere near the same galaxy - let alone wavelength - of his sporting escapologist teammate, then Fiji could have levelled the scores to 22-22. Vatubua had to step off his wing and run a switch off Radradra’s shoulder; there was acres of space inside Fiji’s dangerman, such was Wales’ preoccupation with him. To their credit, Moriarty and Watkin tracked back to eventually haul Radradra down, but on another day the damage might already have been done.