Portugal will be by far the happiest of the teams going home early from the Rugby World Cup.
The Portuguese pulled off a stunner of an upset with a late try followed by a conversion in the dying seconds to beat Fiji 24-23 for their first ever World Cup win and a storming end to their campaign and the tournament’s pool stage yesterday [Macau time].
Fiji squeaked through with a losing bonus point to be the last team to make it to the quarterfinals, but the manner of progression was nowhere near what the Flying Fijians, or the rest of the rugby world, were expecting.
Having twice led, Os Lobos — the Wolves — of Portugal were 23-17 down with two minutes to go and facing another near-miss. Right wing Raffaele Storti picked up from the back of a ruck, went belting down the short side and flicked inside to fellow wing Rodrigo Marta to score and set up a conversion for history.
Two weeks ago at the same stadium in Toulouse, Portugal missed a last-second kick and the chance of a breakthrough win in an 18-18 draw with Georgia.
This time, scrumhalf Samuel Marques stroked it sweetly home.
“It’s incredible. It’s unbelievable,” said Portugal coach Patrice Lagisquet, a France great who greeted the frenetic finish with a pump of his arm and a huge grin in the coaches box. “They always find resources I never expect. The way they could score, it’s amazing.” MDT/AP
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