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Rugby World Cup 2023 Match Preview: Australia v Portugal

Everything you need to know about Australia v Portugal at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne, on Sunday, 1 October

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Two defeats in a row in France, including a record loss to Wales, have left Australia despondent. Their Rugby World Cup future is out of their hands. All they can do is finish the pool phase in a manner to which their fans would like to become re-accustomed.

Eddie Jones has made three personnel changes to Australia’s starting XV, bringing in Fraser McReight, Izaia Perese and Lalakai Foketi. Perese, on his Rugby World Cup debut, will partner his Waratahs team-mate Lalakai Foketi in midfield for the first time in a test match.

Portugal have already demonstrated that they will not roll over easily. They gave Wales a bigger scare than the final 28-8 scoreline might suggest in their opening Pool C match in Nice two weeks ago.

In spite of the doom and gloom around Australia at the Rugby World Cup, it hasn’t been knocked out yet.

Eddie Jones’ misjudged bluster about winning the tournament with a young squad died after consecutive defeats to Fiji and Wales over the last two weekends, but his Wallabies are alive until Saturday evening at least.

If, by then, Fiji has beaten Georgia with a bonus point in Bordeaux then Fiji joins Wales in the quarterfinals from Pool C and the Wallabies are shut out of the knockout stage for the first time ever. If Fiji loses to Georgia or doesn’t get a bonus point, it still has one more chance to make the quarters next week against Portugal.

Fiji scored two second-half tries as they rebounded from a nine-point half-time deficit to tighten their grip on second place in Group C, but their failure to collect a bonus point left Australia with a slight hope of avoiding a first ever group-stage exit.

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Georgia were eliminated. Australia and Fiji both finish the group by facing Portugal. Australia need to pick up a bonus-point win and hope Fiji lose without a point. Even Portugal could sneak in with two remarkable victories.

With a quarter-final place beckoning, Fiji started anxiously in Bordeaux, messing up restarts, losing lineouts, giving away penalties and paying the habitual price for their high-risk passing attack and repeatedly dropping the ball.

Yet Georgia also showed nerves as they blew gilt-edged touchdown chances at each end of the half.

After two minutes, Akaki Tabutsadze spilled the ball with the try-line calling.

The winger was denied at the end of the half. After Georgia counter-attacked more than 60 metres following a double Fijian fumble, Tornike Jalagonia hurled his pass forward as he found the wide-open Tabutsadze.

Georgia did punish Fiji's indiscipline.

Luka Matkava kicked a short penalty and long-range specialist Davit Niniashvili booted one from inside his own half and one from almost 50m to give Georgia a 9-0 half-time lead.

But Georgia had also lost hooker Tengizi Zamtaradze and lock Lasha Jaiani to injury in the first 17 minutes, leaving their replacements to play more than three-quarters of a ferocious match. fhg