Full Time in Nice where Wales have beaten Portugal 28-8 in what was a much tighter contest than many had anticipated. Wales left it late to secure a bonus point try, much to the relief of Warren Gatland. How important could that extra point be by the end of the pool stages?

It was a fascinating opening ten minutes, with both sides eager to make a positive start to this game. Underdogs Portugal rattled Wales early on as they thrived in broken play, spreading the ball wide to their speedy outside backs. The wing duo of Vincent Pinto and Rodrigo Marta caused the Welsh defence a heap of issues early on in this game, as they constantly looked to keep the ball alive.

After weathering an early storm, Wales pierced the fierce Portuguese through the electric Louis Rees-Zammit on the right wing. With Wales keeping possession on the half-way line, Tomos Williams produced an excellent pass to Jac Morgan in the 15-metre channel. Morgan drew the attention of Marta, who attempted to make the tackle, but Morgan showed great skill to offload to his winger. Rees-Zammit produced his trademark chip-and-chase tactic, benefitting from an empty Portuguese backfield; the ball sat up nicely for the winger who was able to coast in for an easy score to give Wales the lead. A Leigh Halfpenny conversion added the extra two points.

Portugal, to their credit, refused to back down and showed great determination and skill to keep this game alive. Jeronimo Portela ran the show for Portugal, his running game causing plenty of problems for the Welsh defense. Unfortunately, Portugal showed their inexperience through their inability to be clinical in the final third, regularly spilling the ball or giving away unnecessary penalties.

With Wales struggling to gain a foothold in this game, matters were made worse in the 25^th minute as Johnny Williams was shown a yellow card for deliberately preventing an attack by ‘playing the ball on the floor’. In the ten minutes that followed, Portugal were excellent as they employed a brilliant kicking game that saw them win two ’50:22’s’, Portela’s kicks judged to perfection.

A Samuel Marques penalty in the 36^th minute would cut Wales’ lead to just four points, and it was no less than Portugal deserved. Wales were left exposed in the backfield on numerous occasions and Portugal capitalised on their man-advantage during the sin-bin period. Playing with a penalty advantage, Portela attempted a drop-goal, but his effort drifted wide. Marques’ following kick was hit perfectly through the posts.

Wales finished the half well, and would score their second try of the game with the clock in the red through Captain Dewi Lake. It looked as if Wales had scored a try just minutes earlier, as Johnny Williams looked to have grounded the ball to redeem his yellow card, but as he extended his arm to reach for the line, he knocked the ball on. Play was brought back as Wales were playing with penalty advantage. Lake opted for a ‘tap-and-go’ penalty, and drove straight at the Portuguese defence, who were unable to keep the powerful hooker out from close range.

It was a disappointing end to the first half for Portugal, who had played a brilliant 40 minutes of rugby, but they were sloppy when it mattered most and gave away numerous lazy penalties. They can take credit from forcing Wales to dog deep in that opening half however. Wales were far from their best in this opening 40 minutes, but they did enough to have two tries and an 11-point lead to their name at the break.

With the introduction of rain, the second half was noticeably lacking in quality, as both sides spilled the ball endlessly. Neither side were able to get a foothold at the start of the second half, making play heavily unstructured. Wales broke the stalemate in the 55^th minute through Jac Morgan, who was not due to partake in today’s game but came in to replace the injured Tommy Reffell. Following a series of dominant scrums, Wales opted to keep the ball in hand and give it to the forwards for a series of pick-and-go drives. Morgan picked up the ball and powered over the line to get Wales’ third try of the evening.

Portugal responded brilliantly with a try of their own in the 63^rd minute, an excellent set-piece strike-move directly from the training ground. Winning a penalty deep in the Welsh 22’ Portugal opted to kick for the corner to potentially maul a lineout over the line. When the moment came, Wales were tricked into setting up for a maul defence; Portugal’s Rafael Simoes caught the lineout before immediately passing it down to Nicolas Martins who was left completely unmarked. Martins had an easy finish from five metres out, as Wales had committed numbers to defend the maul. It was a brilliant training ground routine that was greeted by a chorus of applause from the travelling Portuguese fans.

Wales crossed the Portuguese try-line for a fourth time in this game in the 75^th minute with Gareth Davies, and Sam Costelow had converted the extra two points before referee Karl Dickson ruled out the try due to obstruction in the build-up. With time running out, Wales scrambled for a fourth try that would secure a critical bonus point.

Wales got their wish, as Taulupe Faletau crossed the line after breaking from the base of a dominant Welsh scrum, the number 8 powering past the outnumbered Portuguese defence.

That extra point could prove pivotal for Wales, who have looked poor in these opening two games, yet currently sit at the top of the pool with 10 points.

Full Time, Wales 28-8 Portugal