The Fijians were defeated by Portugal…but they qualified, and Australia were eliminated

A formality for Fiji? This is what one can imagine, given that the Fiji squad only needed a small point against humble Portugal to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup. Except that Os Lobos had other plans in mind, as they led by as much as seven points in the second half on Sunday, in Toulouse, before being overtaken on the scoreboard. Finally, they made the decision in the last minutes to try Marta (24-23).

In the end, Fiji are still the last qualifiers in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup. They will face England next Sunday. Third-placed Australia were eliminated in Group C. Expected thunder. Remember, Wales finished the tournament at the top of the group. First victory for Portugal.

Tufts but no tests

Three all around at the break: You're not wrong, it was actually a rugby match and not a football match, it was just missed tries. This is actually the only thing missing, as everything else was there to make the Stade Ernest Wallon in Toulouse shake. Both teams wanted to play, and it showed. We can no longer count the number of hand throws, number of defenders hit and meters gained on Sunday night. The only ones who scored points were Lomani for Fiji and Marquez for Portuguese. But we hesitate in this first act, to the rhythm of the Lobos' efforts to contain the flying Fijians, and their skill-filled excursions.

A second historical work

All we were missing were tries, and they served us well in that second half. After returning from the dressing room, winger Costa scored the first try of the evening for the Portuguese (45th), after a wonderful low kick for himself. After the first conversion from Marquez (4/4), Lobos took the lead for the first time of the evening. Not confident, at 14 to 15 after the yellow card for Botia (50^'), the Fijians were still able to score with a strong effort from the forwards and corner Dougie (68^y). Lomani, with two successful penalty kicks (74th, 76th), believed he would protect his team. But that was without relying on the resolve of their opponents. At 78^y, Marta scored a final try to get back to the wicket of the Pacific Warriors, who was well served by Costa. Marquez, impressive this evening, scored the winning turn at eighty^y. A historic first World Cup win, which must have left much regret among Eddie Jones' Wallabies side, was eliminated by the same number of points as the Fijians who will face the English in the quarter-finals.