Wales 28 Portugal 8: Dragons win second straight at Rugby World Cup but leave it late for bonus point vs 14-man minnows
WALES breathed a massive sigh of relief as they finally scrambled a bonus point try against 14 man Portugal with the final move of the match.
The Dragons did not look capable of getting that fourth try until Portugal wing Vincent Pinto seriously undermined his team by leading with his boot as he went up for a high ball, and kicked Josh Adams in the face.
That 76th minute incident brought an immediate yellow card, which was quickly upgraded to a red.
And the extra man was clearly a factor as Taulupe Faletau burst off the back of a scrum to claim that all-important score, with the clock well into the red zone, showing 82.14.
Coach Warren Gatland looked far from impressed as he commented: “It wasn’t pretty but we got the job done.
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“We made a lot of changes, and a few of the boys looked a bit rusty having not played together. But we’ll take the win and move on.”
Wales were lucky to be 21-8 ahead of the ultra-plucky Portugese when Faletua struck, after tries from Louis Rees-Zammitt and co-captains Dewi Lake and Jac Morgan, all converted by Leigh Halfpenny.
Morgan, who was pressed into service after a mere six day break when Tommy Reffell hurt himself in the warm-up, also set up Reez-Zammitt’s try and was voted man of the match.
Wales had better pray he can still raise a gallop for Saturday’s crucial clash with Australia, as he has been their standout performer so far.
Morgan glossed over his team’s shortcomings by praising their opponents. He said: “We’ve got to give full credit to Portugal. They were brilliant.They really brought that physicality and really tested us a lot of times.”
The Dragons beat Portugal 102-11 the only other time the teams met, back in 1994.
But there was never any chance of a repeat as the minnows showed plenty of enterprise and skill in attack, played havoc with the Welsh lineout, and made them look a shadow of the team who rose to the occasion to beat Fiji.
A penalty from scrum half Samuel Marques and a Nicolas Martins try from a superbly-executed lineout move was scant reward for Portugal’s efforts.
Wales looked increasingly frustrated, with centre Johnny Williams picking up a yellow card for cynical swatting the ball away as Rodrigo Marta tried to offload in the tackle.
Williams also spilled the ball over the line, only to be reprieved when referee Karl Dickson signalled a penalty advantage, and Lake barrelled his way over from close range.
Williams was not the only Wales flop. This was a stuttering, messy display that let a lot of their air out of the balloon that went up so jubilantly after the terrific backs-to-the-wall effort against Fiji.