Wallabies overcome Portugal to keep slight quarterfinal hopes alive
In the wake of their record defeat to Wales in Lyon, Eddie Jones’ Wallabies have kept their slender quarterfinal hopes alive with a hard-fought 34-14 win over Portugal at the Rugby World Cup.
With the Flying Fijians failing to lock up all five points against Georgia in Bordeaux, the Wallabies could keep their near-impossible World Cup dream alive with a winning bonus point.
It didn’t come easy, but the Aussies got the job done. Eddie Jones’ men survived an early scare from Portugal as they ran away with the win.
Preparing to play in front of a Portuguese-dominated crowd at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, appeared nothing short of desperate as they looked to bounce back from a row of disastrous defeats.
With captain David Porecki leading the way, the Wallabies were visibly focused as they made their way off the field after their warm-up, but there was one clear absentee.
Flyhalf Carter Gordon wasn’t there. The young playmaker was officially ruled out just an hour before kick-off, with veteran Samu Kerevi coming onto the bench to replace him.
Utility Ben Donaldson was named to start in the No. 10 jersey and appeared to be Australia’s only experienced option in the position. It was a troubling space for the Wallabies to be in.
With the match underway at 5.45 pm on a beautiful evening in east-central France, the Wallabies made the most of the ideal conditions.
Donaldson knocked a relatively routine penalty attempt over to give the Aussies a 3-nil lead, but Portugal weren’t here to just make up the numbers – they took the lead shortly after.
Inside centre Tomas Appleton threw a sublime cut-out pass to his midfielder partner Pedro Bettencourt to set up the opening try. Bettencourt scored in the corner, and the crowd went berserk.
Halfback Samuel Marques nailed the conversion to give Los Lobos a surprising 7-3 lead. The Australians in attendance were left stunned, frustrated and wary.
But the match quickly turned back in the Wallabies’ favour. Bettencourt was yellow-carded for a high shot on Izaia Perese, and the Aussies made the most of their advantage.
Towering lock Richie Arnold and captain David Porecki both crossed for tries as the Wallabies began to find their groove with a one-player advantage.
Wallabies enforcer Angus Bell added another try to the score with 15 minutes to play in the half. The scores didn’t change before the break with the Aussies taking a 24-7 lead into the sheds.
Queenslander Fraser McReight scored the decisive try for the Wallabies after the break, with the flanker linking up with wing Mark Nawaqanitawase to score Australia’s fourth try.
Bonus point secured. If they could hang on for the much-needed win, then they’d still be alive at Rugby World Cup 2023 – although only just.
Portugal made a statement of intent just before the one-hour mark as they bombarded the Wallabies’ defensive line with waves of relentless attack.
Los Lobos has a try disallowed with Mike Tadjer having the ball knocked out of his hands just above the try line. The crowd, quite clearly, didn’t agree with the TMO’s decision.
But a yellow card to Wallaby Matt Faessler made things interesting. Portugal were parked deep inside Australia’s 22 and they were playing with all the ball.
The Wallabies managed to hold on, and even turn the ball over, but it spelled disaster almost immediately. Centre Samu Kerevi led with his forearm into contact and was subsequently sent to the bin under review.
Portugal had a two-player advantage and were awarded a penalty about 15 metres out from the Wallabies’ try line. They kicked for the corner, and they needed to score.
But again, the Wallabies held on. Backrower Rob Valetini jumped up and celebrated as the Wallabies’ maul stood firm in the face of persistent pressure.
The clock continued to closer and closer towards full-time, but there was no quit in this Portuguese outfit. They returned to the Wallabies 22, and eventually left with points.
On the back of a dominant scrum, replacement Rafael Simoes crashed over to make it a 29-14 game after the successful conversion.
But it wasn’t to be for Portugal. The Wallabies scored again through wing Marika Koroibete, and there simply wasn’t enough time left to offer a comeback.
The Wallabies head into a bye week and will just have to wait and see if Fiji have what it takes to book their place in the quarters against their valiant Portugues outfit next week.
Comments on RugbyPass
Danny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
35 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
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