A historic first World Cup win for Portugal, a place in the quarter-finals for Fiji where they will face England and elimination for Eddie Jones’s Australia. But that barely tells the half of it. The final match of the pool stages proved by some distance the most entertaining with Rodrigo Marta’s late try and Samuel Marques’s nerveless conversion handing Portugal the most dramatic of victories.
Os Lobos have won hearts and minds throughout the tournament and now they have a victory to savour. The sight of their players singing their lungs out in front of their delirious supporters soon after the final whistle will be one of the abiding memories of the tournament. That and the expert touch-finder from the hooker Mike Tadjer, under considerable pressure, in the first half.
Fiji, for their part, looked to have clawed their way back to a nervous victory for the second week in a row until Marta struck. They squeeze into the quarter-finals for the first time in 16 years and only the third time in their history by virtue of their losing bonus point – which in turn snuffs out any faint hope the Wallabies had of edging into the last eight.
Fiji will regroup before facing England in Marseille and can take heart from their victory at Twickenham in August but they will have to make significant improvements against Steve Borthwick’s side.
“We’re very happy to be there but we’ve got a lot of work to do this week,” said Fiji’s head coach, Simon Raiwalui.
Portugal, meanwhile, have played with ambition and at times abandon in this tournament and have won many admirers. The openside flanker Nicolas Martins turned in a tireless performance while Marques led from scrum-half with huge authority and we can expect a scramble for a whole host of their players’ signatures on the back of this showing. It’s something incredible. “We worked a lot for that,” said Martins. “It’s historic. I’m so happy. It’s the best moment of my life.”
They twice led by seven points in the second half – one more and Australia would have been heading into the last eight – before Fiji’s pressure eventually told and Mesake Doge burrowed over. Two Frank Lomani penalties put the Pacific islanders on course for victory but Marta had other ideas.
Had anyone had a camera on Jones, watching from Australia’s base in Saint-Étienne – or purgatory given they had to stay in France on the off chance Portugal could win by enough points – you imagine they could name their price for the footage. Few gave Portugal a chance, even though Georgia had rattled Fiji for long spells last week, but they played with tenacity and spirit in abundance and deserve their slice of history.
All things told, it was a mad-cap match. Sweltering conditions made handling difficult so it was as error-strewn as it was entertaining but that added to the sense of theatre. It was just 3-3 at half-time, Lomani and Marques trading penalties. Fiji might have scored the opening try had the full-back Sireli Maqala not lost his footing at the vital moment, and Portugal’s Raffaele Storti was also agonisingly close, knocking the loose ball on as he dived just short of the line.
Five minutes into the second half, however, Storti had his try. The fly-half Jeronimo Portela claimed a magnificent high ball and Portugal recycled to the right. The grubber from the captain José Lima was inch perfect and Storti had the pace to get there first. Marques’s conversion from the touchline gave Portugal a seven-point advantage.
Fiji were rattled and Portugal threatened again down the left but a loose pass from Martins gave Maqala the chance to break clear and Levani Botia eventually went over from close range. Lomani’s conversion levelled the score at 10-10.
Moments later Botia was sent to the bunker for a high shot on Marta and, from the ensuing penalty, Portugal’s loosehead prop Francisco Fernandes burrowed over from close range. Botia’s yellow card was not upgraded to red because of Marta’s change of direction but Portugal’s resolute defence continued to frustrate Fiji.
Eventually, however, their mounting pressure told with Doge squeezing over and Lomani again levelling with the conversion before kicking two further penalties. Portugal countered, however, through Marta, who ran a superb inside line to dot down with barely a minute remaining. Marques still had work to do with his conversion but after a lengthy break he showed icy veins to nail the kick and send the Portugal faithful into raptures.
