Portugal made history as they secured their first ever World Cup win with a 24-23 victory over Fiji in Toulouse this evening.

A late try, scored by Rodrigo Marta, set up Samuel Marques with a game-defining conversion, the scrum-half seizing his opportunity as he struck the ball through the posts.

Fiji still progress to the Quarter Finals, as they picked up a losing bonus point, but this was not the result they would have been hoping for. Portugal have been brilliant throughout this tournament, and finally get their reward with this historic win.

The first half was hardly high-scoring, but it was certainly not lacking in drama. Fiji got on the scoreboard first in the ninth minute thanks to an easy penalty kick from Frank Lomani after Portugal had given away a penalty for repeated offside infringements.

Fiji looked to build some momentum from the kick, but were limited by both a defiant Portuguese side and also their own indiscipline. Nevertheless, Fiji dominated the opening 25 minutes, but were unable to turn this possession and territory into points on the board.

A huge defensive shift from Portugal in the 25^th minute changed the flow of the first half, as it was now Portugal who were in the ascendency. With Fiji looking dangerous after multiple phases, José Lima came up with a crucial turnover to win a penalty for Portugal, who could no relieve some early pressure.

Three minutes later and Portugal were well and truly firing. After a quick tap-and-go penalty from the halfway line was taken by Samuel Marques, it was evident Fiji were lacking in numbers in defence. Marques passed the ball to his captain Lima, who was unable to gather the ball and knocked it on. Had he have caught the ball, he had the electric Rafaele Storti to his right and a try looked imminent.

Fiji’s ill-discipline cost them hugely in the opening 40 minutes, as they conceded 8 penalties, mostly of their own making. Portugal defended well as a team and gave Fiji few opportunities to attack with their usual flair, but Fiji were the architects of their undoing at various moments throughout the first half. One penalty they conceded was during their own scrum, in which they lost their own set-piece for the first time in this year’s Rugby World Cup.

Portugal will rue their brilliant chance in the 37^th minute to take the lead, Rafaele Storti coming within inches of scoring what would have been a wonderful try. With Portugal camped deep in the Fijian half, Jeronimo Portela ran a brilliant line with the ball before passing to Storti.

The pass was poor, but Storti kicked the ball with his feet and chased after it. In attempting to regather, the winger knocked the ball on as he tried to scoop it up; surely he should have just dived on the ball and used his momentum to propel over the try line?

Having failed to convert a series of chances, and with a penalty right in front of the post, Samuel Marques opted to kick for three points in the 38^th minute, so that his side had something to show for their efforts. Marques easily converted the kick and the sides were level once again.

It was a brilliant half from Portugal, and one that Fiji will be in a hurry to forget. The highlight of the half has to be Mike Tadjer’s 40-metre kick from hand that was perfectly judged to perfection and went out to give his side some rest bite. Mike Tadjer is a hooker by the way.

This game was really sparked into life early in the second half. After some brilliant play from Portugal, they would cross over the try line with Rafaele Storti after an excellent chip kick from Pedro Bettencourt who spotted huge gaps in the Fijian defence.

The move started with a brilliant kick from Manuel Cardoso Pinto which was regathered by his teammate Jeronimo Portela. From the next phase, Bettecourt had ball in hand and chipped the ball through the defence. Initially it looked as if the ball was nearing the touchline, but out of nowhere, Storti emerged and dotted down the ball excellently to give Portugal the opening try of this game.

Within minutes, Fiji hit back with a bang through their talisman, Levani Botia. From the restart from Stori’s try Portugal regathered the ball and looked dangerous. However, a spilled carry from Rodrigo Marta fell nicely into the hands of Fiji’s full-back Sireli Maqala, who ran the length of the pitch and found himself on the Portuguese five metre line after a scintillating run. Two phases later, Botia picked up the ball from the base of the ruck and dotted over to level the scoring.

More drama ensued as Botia was then shown a yellow card and sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Rodrigo Marta. Portugal looked to make their man advantage count instantly as they kicked to the corner from the following penalty.

After a solid lineout from Portugal, they looked to get their driving maul rolling and it looked for a moment that Mike Tadjer would go on to score, only to be held up short. Three phases later, veteran prop Francisco Fernandes picked up the ball at the base of the ruck and squeezed his way over the try line to once again give Portugal the lead. A Samuel Marques conversion would make the score line 17-10 in Portugal’s favour with thirty minutes still to play.

Fiji responded well to the yellow card and looked to get back on level pegging, only to be undone by their own indiscipline and a huge defensive shift from a spirited Portugal. They gave away numerous penalties, lost their own lineouts and made an uncharacteristic number of handling errors.

Fiji would finally get the score they were chasing, as substitute prop Mesake Doge powered over from short range to bring Fiji closer to a Quarter Final. Fiji won a penalty in the Portuguese half and opted for another lineout.

This time, they were able to make the catch stick and they drove toward the try line. Despite being held up short, Fiji went again from the following rucks and gave the ball to their big forwards. Doge found himself with the ball at the back of the ruck, and with the support of his teammates, powered over the try line to bring Fiji level, as Lomani kicked the conversion.

Frank Lomani had his kicking boots on tonight, as he converted a crucial penalty kick from 30 metres to give his side the lead of this game for the first time since the 36^th minute. You could hear the Portuguese energy leave the stadium with this score, as their hopes of a first ever World Cup win started to slip away.

Another penalty, this time from near the halfway line, would extend Fiji’s lead to six points, and what a kick it was. It looked as if Portugal were dead, but then out of nothing Rafeaele Storti worked a bit of magic.

Picking the ball up at the base of a ruck just across the halfway line Storti ran to the blind side and broke through a scattered Fijian defence. With just one man to beat, Storti found his winger who was running a perfect support line, Rodrigo Marta crossing the whitewash to bring Portugal within a singular point of Fiji with a conversion to come. Sameul Marques, the ever-reliable kicker, stepped up to take the kick and converted it! Portugal lead 24-23 with just one minute to play.

Portugal secured the restart and then kicked the ball out with the clock in the red. Portugal have won their first ever World Cup game, and did so in style!

Fiji still progress to the Quarter Finals, but it’s Portugal who steal the headlines tonight!