Australia keep their very slim chances at qualifying for the Quarter Finals alive with a bonus-point victory over Portugal this evening in what was a dramatic contest.

Australia’s chances of qualifying rely on Fiji losing to this Portuguese side next week in what promises to be a thrilling game, but the Wallabies might well have played their last game at this World Cup as they are without a game next week.

Desperate to get off the mark following their embarrassing defeat to Wales last week, Australia were desperate to get off to a good start in this game. They would open the scoring in the fourth minute thanks to a penalty kick from Ben Donaldson.

From there, however, Portugal grew into the game, spurred on by the passionate Portuguese fans in Saint Etienne. After a period of sustained pressure, and with penalty advantage, Portugal played the ball from left to right, before inside centre Tomas Appleton produced a wonderful skip pass to his centre partner Pedro Bettencourt on the right wing. The outside centre put on the afterburners and scored in the corner to lift the roof off the stadium. An excellent conversion kick from Samuel Marques would give Portugal a 4-point lead in the 12^th minute.

Bettencourt would go from hero to zero just three minutes later as he was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Izaia Perese. The centre was lucky after a bunker review the card was not upgraded to a red card, but the numbers advantage would prove costly for Portugal.

Within three minutes of the card, Australia would get over the try line through Richie Arnold. After a solid lineout, Angus Bell ran a dangerous cutting line right at the heart of the Portuguese defence. Rob Valetini would pick-and-go from the following ruck and was tackled just metres short of the try line. The number 8 then offloaded to Arnold, who ran a great supporting line, before dotting down for the score.

In the 21^st minute, following a strong Australian lineout, hooker Dave Porecki found himself at the base of a driving maul just metres out from the Portuguese try line. Porecki bided his time at the base of the maul and picked his moment to strike and broke off just two metres from the line. The hookers powered over Jeronimo Portela for Australia’s second try of this game.

Australia looked to punish Portugal more during their sin-bin period, and would do so just before Bettencourt was allowed back on the pitch. After a quick counter attack, carried out by the electric backline of the Wallabies, Australia found themselves deep within the Portuguese 22’. After a series of pick-and-go drives, prop Angus Bell ran a brilliant line to power over the try line for Australia’s third try of this game.

Three tries, and three conversions from Donaldson would see the Wallabies lead 24-7 at half-time, as they capitalised on the sin-bin period to perfection. Portugal showed no signs of letting up, however, as they scored a try in the corner in the 36^th minute, only for Nicolas Martins to have a leg in touch as he scored. Portugal refused to go down without a fight, but they were undone whilst down to 14 players.

Australia would get an all-important bonus-point try in the 47^th minute as Fraser McReight dotted over for an easy score thanks to the hard work of Tate McDermott and Mark Nawaqanitawase. With little cover on the Portuguese right flank, McDermott quickly passed to his winger, who dummied a pass, ran a metre to commit the single defender, before then passing to McReight on his right for an easy score.

Portugal would make life difficult for Australia for the rest of the game, and almost cut the deficit with a try of their own in the 59^th minute, however Mike Tadjer was deemed to have knocked the ball on and lost control before scoring a try. Australia would have Matt Faessler sent to the sin-bin for illegally dragging down the driving maul on multiple occasions. Dave Porecki, who thought his day was done, was then forced to come back on the pitch for scrum time.

Matters were made worse for the Wallabies when substitute Samu Kerevi was sent to the sin bin just two minutes later after he fended Tomas Aplleton off with his forearm to the head. Portugal, with a huge sway of momentum, would be unable to capitalise as their driving maul was held up over the line, and Australia could breathe a sigh of relief. Minutes later, Portugal would knock the ball in a dangerous position in the Australian 22’.

After banging on the door for 20 minutes, Portugal would finally get their second try, this time Rafael Simoes controlling the ball perfectly with his feet at the back of the scrum before picking it up to power over the try line. A conversion from Samuel Marques would reduce the deficit to 15 points with just under ten minutes to play.

Any chance of a Portuguese comeback was quickly nipped at the bud as Australia were back to a full compliment. A great line break from Samu Kerevi would split the Portuguese defence wide open. Two phases later, the ball worked its way to the left wing, where Marika Koroibete would pick up the ball at the base of the ruck and power over the try line to seal the win for Australia.

Neither side was willing to kick the ball out of play when the clock struck red, and as such they played until the 84^th minute, before a knock on would draw a conclusion to this game.

Portugal were scintillating, but were undone by a clinical ten-minute period from the Wallabies.

Full Time in Saint Etienne, Australia 34-14 Portugal

Argentina revitalised their hopes of progressing from Pool D with a mammoth victory over Samoa in Saint-Etienne, Emiliano Boffelli inspiring the Pumas to their first win.

Four hard-earned points fire them right back into qualification contention with Samoa left to stew on their first loss of the tournament.

Knowing a win was essential to hopes of the knockout rounds, Argentina were handed an early boost in the form a man advantage with the in-form Duncan Paia’aua sin binned inside thirty seconds for interfering with ball catcher, fly-half, Santiago Carreras and catching him late.

With the Samoans stranded in their own twenty-two, the Pumas pounced in the ninth minute, quick, incisive passing creating an overload out wide right.

There, the wingers combined as Mateo Carreras fed Emiliano Boffelli who drifted inside and bulldozed in, extending out to score a try, which he himself converted for the perfect start for Michael Cheika’s men.

In rampant rain, conditions looked to adversely impact Christian Leali’ifano, his first kick drifting wide as Samoa sought a swift reply.

Despite the drizzle, Boffelli bolstered Argentina up into double digits with a monster penalty midway through the opening half.

Leali’ifano then found his range with a meaty kick of his own, aided on its way over by the crossbar, the margin cut back to seven points.

Incessant Pumas pressure resulted in an agonisingly near second score, they did though re-establish the ten-point buffer with Boffelli’s second penalty.

Samoa upped the physicality, pinning Argentina back on the brink of the break, an uncharacteristic Leali’ifano miss and a pivotal knockon instead left them frustrated and no further on points-wise.

An immaculately executed catch and drive move with Boffelli diving over, it looked like Argentina’s lead had grown but referee, Nic Berry, disallowed the score for a double movement, reprieving Samoa who had been stifled since the start of the second half.

They contented themselves for a further three, reward for their dominance as Boffelli continued to build his tally of points.

As the benches were emptied, Boffelli blasted a long-range kick just wide, but the fact remained that Samoa were badly struggling to get at all going, although an unlikely try could have swung the momentum.

Counterattacking from deep, Fritz Lee knocked on with acres of empty grass ahead of him, Samoa’s chance of consistent pressure cheaply squandered.

The rain eased but handling errors remained as the game became scrappy and continually riddled by mistakes, Argentina desperate to score a second but lacking the calm cohesion to get it.

Five minutes from time, Samoa got the lifeline they craved as replacement hooker, Sama Malolo made it three tries in two Rugby World Cup games, bustling over unstoppably and quickly converted by fellow substitute, Angelo Luila.

That brought them to within a converted try of stealing victory but knowing that they needed the ball, Argentina kept composed and hogged it, earning a penalty.

Experienced replacement, Nicolas Sanchez emphatically sent it sailing through the sticks to seal a Pumas victory and deny Samoa a losing bonus point, as the Pumas revived their bid to reach the last eight.

Next, Samoa take on Japan on Thursday night in Toulouse (8pm KO).  Argentina are in action again two days later in Nantes at the Stade de La Beaujoire (2pm KO).

Fiji get their first win over Australia since 1954 in Saint Ettienne tonight, producing a wonderfully composed performance to win the game 22-15, keeping their Quarter-Final hopes very much alive.

Fiji were excellent across the park tonight, with stand-out performers in multiple positions. They improved their kicking game significantly from last week’s loss to Wales, the inclusion of Simi Kuruvoli proving decisive. Similarly, at the breakdown the Fijians were immense from the onset tonight.

An early penalty for Australia following a high tackle on Rob Valetini was converted by Full-Back Ben Donaldson to give the Wallabies a three-point lead inside as many minutes. Donaldson adds to his impressive points tally at this World Cup, off the back of his 25 points against Georgia last week.

Fiji were awarded a penalty shortly later, scrum-half Simi Kuruvoli stepping up to take the kick. Kuruvoli, taking his first kick in international rugby, nailed the kick from distance, the ball travelling perfectly down the middle of the posts. The scrum-half would double his tally on the night just nine minutes later as he converted another penalty from a very similar position. Kuruvoli’s inclusion this week is a clear statement of intent from Fiji, who know that their goal-kicking let them down last week against Wales.

Fiji began to dominate possession, making metres on every carry. However, very much against the run of play, Fiji knocked the ball on in the tackle and the ball spilled into the path of Nic White. There was a suggestion that Richie Arnold handled the ball on the ground, leading to the knock-on, but referee Andrew Brace was happy this wasn’t the case. Nic White was quick to notice space in the Fiji back-field, putting through an excellent kick from within his own half into space. The ball bounced through the Fiji 22’ and trickled out for a Wallabies 50:22. Mark Nawaqanitawase was careful to use the same ball and took a quick lineout to Samu Kerevi, who offered a return pass for the winger, who had an easy run to the line as they caught the Fiji defence napping.

The TMO and Andrew Brace were happy that Richie Arnold had not handled the ball on the ground, much to the disappointment of the largely Fijian-supporting crowd in Saint Ettiene.

Fiji responded well, showing their composure from the kicking tee to immediately take back the lead thanks to the boot of Simi Kuruvoli. Just six minutes later, the scrum-half would increase Fiji’s lead to four points with his fourth penalty of the half. Fiji showed real composure from the kicking tee to take control of this fixture. The Wallabies were made to pay for their ill-discipline, giving away 7 penalties in the opening half-hour.

With pressure mounting at the end of the half, Fiji were unable to fully capitalise on their dominance as they lost two crucial lineouts in the space of as many minutes, with a third being fumbled by Levani Botia immediately afterwards. The La Rochelle flanker was angry at himself for his mistake, knowing how important these fine margins are in games at the highest level. Australia to their credit disrupted the Fijian lineout brilliantly, Nick Frost putting serious pressure on the set-piece, coming up with a crucial steal on the Australian five-metre line.

Australia would hang on for half time, Nic White kicking the ball out of play at the earlier opportunity. Fiji looked in control of this fixture, but fell victim to their own errors at times in the first half, and were undone by some brilliant ‘heads-up’ rugby from the Wallabies. Kuruvoli’s kicking is a huge development for Fiji, who are really evolving into a team that can do it all, composure being their final ingredient.

The second half started with the same intensity of the first, and despite losing Jiuta Wainiqolo to injury Fiji looked hungry for a score. What started as a fairly ordinary defensive box-kick turned into a brilliant score from Fiji. Australia’s Carter Gordon and Mark Nawaqanitawase were caught in two minds about whose job it was to claim the ball and as such the ball went unclaimed. The unpredictable bounce helped the ball into the hands of Josua Tuisova, who sped past the confused Wallabies defence and into the corner for Fiji’s first try of this game. Another excellent kick from Kuruvoli extended Fiji’s lead to 11 points, as they led 19-8 at the start of the second half.

Australia refused to back down, and really made Fiji work in defence, Marika Koroibete causing real problems with his speed, power and offloading abilities. Fiji found themselves under pressure for sustained periods during the third quarter of this game, made worse by the loss of Levani Botia in the 58^th minute.

They would come up with the goods on multiple occasions, however, winning crucial penalties inside their own 22’ through Viliame Mata, Albert Tuisue and Josua Tuisova in particular, denying Australia in dangerous positions. Fiji proved their metal at the breakdown, forcing penalties and turnovers to deny any Australian momentum.

Substitute Fijian scrum-half Frankk Lomani extended Fiji’s lead to 14 points with just 15 minutes to play with an excellent kick from distance, albeit straight in-line with the posts.

Australia responded well as the game neared its completion, and got their reward for their sustained pressure in the 68^th minute, thanks to a powerful pick-and-go drive from substitute winger Suliasi Vunivalu. With Australia’s line-out functioning well, they opted for a driving maul from close range.

After the initial effort was repelled, Vunivalu reacted quickly to squeeze through the narrowest of gaps. Ben Donaldson was able to convert the following kick, bringing the Wallabies within 7 points with just ten minutes to play. Everything was set for a grand-stand closing ten minutes.

Despite being under immense pressure from the Wallabies in the final minutes, Fiji held on to win this game by a margin of seven points, meaning Australia earn a potentially decisive losing bonus point.

The night belongs to Fiji in what was yet another epic game played by the Pacific Islanders.

Italy kicked off their World Cup with a dominant bonus point victory over Namibia.

Tries from Lorenzo Cannone, Paolo Garbisi, Dino Lamb, Ange Cauozzo, Hame Faiva and Manuel Zuliani secured the all important five points with difficult Tests against France and New Zealand to come, while the defeat for Namibia is their 23rd consecutive loss at a World Cup.

Nambia made a fast start and Lions fly-half Tiaan Swanepoel rewarded the underdogs early dominance with a successful shot at goal.

Monty Ioane surged through the middle and after the Italians won a penalty, Paolo Garbisi set up his forwards with an accurate touch finder. 

The Italian forwards burrowed forward and their momentum resulted in a penalty that former Harlequins fly-half Tommy Allan dispatched.

Ioane hit an excellent 50:22 and off the back of his kick, Torsten van Jaarsveld was yellow carded for a cynical intervention in the Azzuri’s driving maul.

Italy went to the corner once more and they utilised their numerical advantage in the following maul as Cannone crossed.

Allan converted from a difficult angle and the Italians second try came from swashbuckling playmaker Garbisi.

Due to hooker van Jaarsveld’s sin binning, Richard Hardwick was forced to throw in at a lineout and his poor overthrow was pounced on by Italy and the ball fell to Garbisi, who showed his electric pace by slicing through the Namibian defence.

Namibia’s forwards powered forward and with a clear overlap out wide, quick hands to the outside allowed Swanepoel to produce a wonderful looping pass for Gerswin Mouton to score in the corner.

With the sweltering conditions in Saint-Etienne, both sides suffered from handling errors with a slippy ball that reduced the game’s tempo after an energetic start.

Nambia’s maul defence held strong as Italy were denied a third try and Italy’s momentum faltered with repeated penalties conceded.

Italy maintained their scrum dominance in the second half and after going to the corner, Harlequins second row Lamb profited from Giacomo Nicotera’s faultless lineout darts as he crossed with a powerful close-range score. 

Capuozzo, who didn’t touch the ball in the first half, made his mark on the game as he broke down the right and played a neat one-two with Ioane and dived into the corner to score a pearling try.

Namibia began to tire in the final 20 minutes as Italy’s attack got into gear and Faiva crossed for their fifth try. 

Replacement back row Zuliani scored as he blasted through the Namibia defenders with his strength and a wicked step before former Wasps centre Paolo Odogwu, who was named in Eddie Jones’ England squad in 2021, rounded off the scoring.