Fiji were below par, but came from behind to beat Georgia 17-12 on Saturday and stay on course for the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, a result that pushed Australia closer to a historic elimination.
Scotland also kept alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stages by running in 12 tries in a hopelessly one-sided 84-0 bonus-point win against Romania, while Argentina also stayed in contention by defeating Chile 59-5.
In Bordeaux, Fiji could have condemned two-time champions Australia to a group-stage exit for the first time in their history if the Pacific Islanders had scored four tries and picked up a bonus point against Georgia.
Photo: AFP
However, the Fijians seemed beset by nerves in an error-strewn first half in which they conceded penalties, dropped the ball repeatedly and paid the price for their high-risk passing attack.
Their ill-discipline left Georgia 9-0 ahead at halftime, but the Fijians gradually hauled themselves back into the game in the second half.
“If I am being honest we were beaten to the punch in the first half. We knew it was going to be a battle. I am just thankful we have the result,” Fiji head coach Simon Raiwalui said.
The lack of a Fijian bonus point left Eddie Jones’ Australia side with a glimmer of hope.
The Wallabies were plunged into difficulty by a 22-15 defeat to Fiji earlier in the pool games.
Australia and Fiji both face Portugal in their final games. Australia need to pick up a bonus-point win and hope Fiji lose without a point. Even Portugal could sneak in with two remarkable, but seemingly unlikely victories.
Scotland were rampant against Romania and Darcy Graham ran in four tries of his own in Lille as the Scots set up a Pool B showdown against Ireland.
They would need victory at the Stade de France to at least finish on the same number of points as Ireland, who were hugely impressive in beating reigning champions South Africa on Sept. 23.
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend made 13 changes to his team and said the way the players who came in had performed against Romania augured well for the clash against the Irish.
“We’ll sit down tomorrow and discuss selection, but this gives us really good momentum ahead of our biggest game of the World Cup,” he said. “It’s a real credit to the 23 tonight and sets up whoever plays against Ireland with a lot of positivity.”
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