Australia's World Cup knock-out hopes were left hanging by a thread after a shock 22-15 loss to Fiji, which was "thoroughly deserved" according to under-pressure head coach Eddie Jones.
Former England boss Jones watched his horror second spell in charge of the Wallabies take another turn for the worse as Simione Kuruvoli kicked 14 points to inspire his country to a first victory over Australia since 1954.
Mark Nawaqanitawase and Lalakai Foketi crossed over for the two-time World Cup winners in Saint-Etienne but they suffered a sixth defeat in seven Tests under Jones' stewardship.
"There is a bit of soul-searching to do but it makes the Wales game pretty important."
Fiji's triumph put them in the driving seat to qualify for the quarter-finals from Pool C with winnable fixtures to come against Georgia and Portugal, meaning Australia must beat Wales in Lyon next weekend to avoid a first ever World Cup group-stage exit.
Jones told ITV: "Well thoroughly deserved victory for Fiji. They outplayed us, particularly around the ruck.
"The turnovers they had, they executed three times more turnovers than us. In a close game like that, that was the difference.
"Look, for some reason we were just off today. If you look at the stats of the game, we dominated and scored two tries to one but we were a poor version of ourselves today.
"So, there is a bit of soul-searching to do but it makes the Wales game pretty important."
Jones took up the Australia reins earlier this year following his dismissal by the Rugby Football Union at the end of 2022, but oversaw a horrendous build-up to this World Cup with defeat to a second-string South Africa on his second debut followed by losses to Argentina, New Zealand and France.
A 35-15 success against Georgia in their opening pool fixture last weekend helped Jones get off the mark, but any chance of building momentum was squashed by a buoyant Fiji outfit.
Fiji had pushed Wales close in their first Pool C clash, losing narrowly by a 32-26 score and being left to rue centre Semi Radradra knocking on close to the try-line in the game's last play.
It failed to dent Fiji's confidence, however, and two Kuruvoli penalties put them 6-3 up against the Wallabies, who had won 17 of the past 18 meetings between the nations.
Nawaqanitawase's try from a quick line-out edged Australia ahead, but Kuruvoli sent over two more kicks before the interval to give the Fijians a 12-8 half-time advantage.
And they were in dreamland straight after the restart when Josua Tuisova was first to a loose ball from a box kick and dived over.
Another penalty, this time by Frank Lomani, extended their lead, before Jones' side set up a grandstand finish when Foketi jotted down with 12 minutes left.
The Wallabies tried to salvage a draw in the closing stages but were met with outstanding resistance by Fiji's rock-solid defence as the Pacific nation earned a first World Cup win over Australia on a memorable evening.
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