The Lusitani were courageous in attack and reliable in defense, and Gatland’s team won complete victory only towards the end.
Rugby World Cup 2023: Wales will only receive bonus after time runs out. Portugal won 28–8 (Photo by Michael Steele – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)
Full spoils for Wales, who take home 5 points after a far from easy match against Portugal, able to stay in the game for almost an hour thanks to an excellent defensive position and great courage in attack, playing with all the balls available, but failed to materialize. In the end, Gatland’s side capitalized on their greater potential, winning 28–8, but only found the bonus goal as time expired. However, there was a lot of effort on the part of the Welsh, and much of the credit goes to Portugal, who played an excellent match.
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A good start for Portugal, who defended well in the Welsh’s first possession and earned the first kick of the match when entering the 22 for the first time. Marquez, the hero of the world knockout stage with a late strike for the USA, misses an easy shot and misses the chance to take the lead . Wales responded to their opponents’ impulse and struck in the 9th minute: Reffell makes the first tackle and opens the way for Rhys Zammit to run, kicks Martha and flies towards goal. Halfpenny converted to make it 7-0.
Portugal react: A superb run from Nuno Guedes who breaks through the Welsh defence, Martins comes in to support and has a highway in front of him but Faletau is very good at returning and saves the day with a great tackle. On the other hand, Marquez makes up for an earlier miscue with an excellent tackle from Tomos Williams.
In the 25th minute, after another superb defense, Portugal have a golden opportunity as Rodrigo Marta finally catches fire and is stopped by Jonny Williams, who then breaks play with a grounder and is shown a yellow card. The next 10 minutes are played almost entirely by the Portuguese, but Wales manage to defend well and eventually get away with it, conceding just 3 points thanks to Marquez. In the final, Gatland’s team took advantage of the Portuguese’s indiscipline and scored against Dewey Lake, who took the free-kick and went all the way.
In the second half, Portugal misses a chance to cut back with Marques, who this time misses a difficult shot, then Wales completely changes the end line and rushes into the attack: in the 55th minute, Reffell goes further and scores a goal – 21-3. Portugal trusts its reaction to the newly minted Raffaele Storti, then, with the development of a “smart” throw-in, he scores against Nicolas Martins, the author of a stunning match both in defense and in attack: 21-8.
Wales are struggling to reach the bonus target. He looked to have found it in the 75th minute thanks to a wonderful move from Rhys Zammit that set up Davies to score, but the goal was disallowed due to Thomas Francis’ obstruction which canceled it out. A minute later, Pinto was sent off after kicking Josh Adams in the face following a mid-air catch. Despite being outnumbered, Portugal continue to defend valiantly against a Welsh team who do their best to win the bonus point: at the end of the half they call a scrum 5 meters from the goal line, the Portuguese pack run out of gas and Faletau manages to score the final 28- 8.
Wales: 15 Lee Halfpenny; 14 Louis Reece Zammit, 13 Mason Grady, 12 Jonny Williams, 11 Rio Dyer; 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams; 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Dan Lydiate; 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 48 Christ Tshiunza; 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Dewey Lake (c), 1 Nicky Smith.
Available: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Thomas Francis, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Thane Basham, 21 Gareth Davis, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Josh Adams.
Goals: Reece Zammit 9 mins, Lake 40 mins+3, Reffell 55 mins, Faletau 80 mins.
Conversions: Halfpenny 10ft, 40ft + 4, 56ft, Costelow 80ft.
Free kicks:
Cards: 25 min. yellow to J. Williams.
Portugal: 15 Nuno Sousa Guedes, 14 Vincent Pinto, 13 Jose Lima, 12 Thomas Appleton (c), 11 Rodrigo Marta, 10 Jeronimo Portela, 9 Samuel Marquez, 8 Rafael Simoes, 7 Nicholas Martins, 6 Joao Granate, 5 Stevie Cerqueira, 4 Jose Madeira, 3 Anthony Alves, 2 Mike Tajer, 1 Francisco Fernandez
Available: 16 David Costa, 17 Lionel Camperg, 18 Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 19 Martim Belo, 20 David Wallis, 21 Pedro Lucas, 22 Joris Moura, 23 Raffaele Storti
Goals: Martins 63′
Conversions:
Free kicks: 37′ Marquez
Maps: 76 feet from red to pinto.
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