Wallabies prop Angus Bell has tipped Portugal to beat Fiji in the all-important Pool C match of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France next Monday.
Bell says the Wallabies’ desperate victory over Portugal is bittersweet with no guarantee it will keep them alive at the World Cup.
The hungry Australian ended their pool stage of the tournament with two wins but also suffered disastrous losses to Wales and Fiji earlier.
Bell had mixed emotions after Sunday’s 34-14 victory in Saint-Etienne, contemplating what might have been.
“We just focused on Portugal and getting a good result there, and now it’s up to the game on the weekend whether Portugal do a job on Fiji,” Bell told rugby.com.au
“It’s bittersweet – we’re proud at putting a good performance in for the Australian public, as a lot of people travelled over here (or) woke up early to watch that game.”
“I guess we’re still in it, it’s all on the result next week from Fiji-Portugal. We’ll keep training hard and keep trying to get better on the back of that.”
“One thing for us, and especially me coming back from a long-term injury, is controlling the controllables – everything that we’ve done is behind us, we can’t change that.”
The 22-year-old NSW Waratahs star said the Wallabies only advance to the play-offs if Portugal denies Fiji any competition points in Bordeaux.
Fiji will meet Portugal at 7am in Stade de Toulouse next Monday.
