Having twice led, Os Lobos — the Wolves — of Portugal were 23-17 down with two minutes to go and facing another near-miss. Right wing Raffaele Storti picked up from the back of a ruck, went belting down the short side and flicked inside to fellow wing Rodrigo Marta to score and set up a conversion for history.
Two weeks ago at the same stadium in Toulouse, Portugal missed a last-second kick and the chance of a breakthrough win in an 18-18 draw with Georgia.
This time, halfback Samuel Marques stroked it sweetly home.
“It’s incredible. It’s unbelievable,” said Portugal coach Patrice Lagisquet, a France great who greeted the frenetic finish with a pump of his arm and a huge grin in the coaches box. “They always find resources I never expect. The way they could score, it’s amazing.
“Even if we work a lot to be able to do things like that, they still surprise me after four years. It is an incredible group, an incredible team.”
The win over Fiji was 34-year-old Portugal hooker Mike Tadjer’s last game for his country before retirement.
“I can die tomorrow,” he said. “I have retired after this World Cup. To finish like that, it is unbelievable for me. For four years we built (towards) this.”
Portugal were the last team to qualify for the World Cup but have moved up to 13th in the latest World Rankings, just behind 2019 quarter-finalists Japan.
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