Australia kept alive their slim hopes of progressing to the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals after claiming a 34-14 bonus-point victory over Portugal on Sunday.
The five-point haul in Saint-Etienne puts the Wallabies one point ahead of Fiji in Pool C, but crucially the islanders still have one fixture to play next week.
That clash will see Fiji face Os Lobos in Toulouse where Australia will be praying for a miracle that sees the former fail to pick up anything from the game.
Portugal, as they proved once again on Sunday, will be no pushover as they caused Australia plenty of problems at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in this match.
Tries from Richie Arnold, Dave Porecki, Angus Bell, Fraser McReight and Marika Koroibete secured the bonus-point win but it was far from straightforward.
Pedro Bettencourt and Rafael Simoes crossed for Os Lobos as they dominated large spells of the contest, garnering even more supporters at this tournament.
Ben Donaldson's penalty put the first points on the board for Australia four minutes in, but Portugal scored the first try of the game as Bettencourt crossed in the corner with Samuel Marques converting.
Bettencourt was then sin-binned, but Donaldson missed the subsequent penalty and the Wallabies then quickly responded with a try to retake the lead as Arnold crossed, with Donaldson able to convert.
With Portugal a man down, the tries came in quick succession for Australia from Porecki and Bell, with Donaldson adding the extras.
Nicolas Martins thought he had pulled a try back for Portugal just before the break but it was chalked off thanks to Andrew Kellaway's tackle and Australia led 24-7 at half-time.
👏 What a tackle, Andrew Kellaway! #AUSvPOR #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/Tq8NGcihyq
― Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) October 1, 2023
McReight crossed six minutes into the second half to secure the bonus point the Wallabies needed to stay alive in the tournament, before Portugal had another try disallowed after Mike Tadjer lost control of the ball.
There was danger for Australia as they were reduced to 13 when Matt Faessler and Samu Kerevi were sin-binned within two minutes of each other.
Portugal took advantage as Simoes scored a converted try with 10 minutes to go, but Koroibete added Australia's fifth try to finish the game off.
The teams
Australia: 15 Andrew Kellaway, 14 Mark Nawaqanitawase, 13 Izaia Perese, 12 Lalakai Foketi, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Ben Donaldson, 9 Tate McDermott, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Richie Arnold, 4 Nick Frost, 3 James Slipper, 2 David Porecki (c), 1 Angus Bell
Replacements: 16 Matt Faessler, 17 Blake Schoupp, 18 Pone Fa'amausili, 19 Rob Leota, 20 Josh Kemeny, 21 Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, 22 Samu Kerevi, 23 Suliasi Vunivalu
Portugal: 15 Nuno Sousa Guedes, 14 Raffaele Storti, 13 Pedro Bettencourt, 12 Tomás Appleton (c), 11 Rodrigo Marta, 10 Jerónimo Portela, 9 Samuel Marques, 8 Thibault de Freitas, 7 Nicolas Martins, 6 David Wallis, 5 Martim Belo, 4 José Madeira, 3 Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 2 Mike Tadjer, 1 David Costa
Replacements: 16 Francisco Fernandes, 17 Duarte Diniz, 18 Francisco Bruno, 19 Steevy Cerqueira, 20 Rafael Simoes, 21 Joao Belo, 22 Joris Moura, 23 Manuel Cardoso Pinto
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant Referees: Mathieu Raynal (France), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Joy Neville (Ireland)
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