Sep 30, 2007, 1:45 GMT
St Etienne, France - While Fiji managed to stun Wales on Saturday at the Rugby World Cup, Italy came agonizingly close to ousting Scotland, but fell just short.
The Pool C game in St Etienne between Scotland and Italy was a match dominated by kicking, with Scotland, who finished second behind New Zealand a a result of their 18-16 victory, winning with six penalties scored by Chris Paterson, who had a 100 per cent record in the game.
Italy scored the only try of the match early in the first half through Alessandro Troncon, with all other points coming from the boot of David Bortolussi.
The 26-year-old had a chance to win the game for Italy and take them into the quarter-finals in the dying minutes of the game but pulled his penalty wide.
But while the Italians were distraught at their defeat in St Etienne, there were wild scenes of celebration earlier in Nantes as the South Pacific islanders Fiji celebrated an unexpected place in the quarter-finals after scoring a stunning upset victory against Wales in a Pool B match.
The 38-34 victory sees Fiji through to the last eight for the second time since 1987 as group second behind Australia.
The islanders had to survive a spirited Welsh come-back in the Stade de la Beaujoire in the second half.
Captain and scrum half Mosese Rauluni said that he thought they had done enough to win the game in the first 30 minutes. 'But they came back and scored a lot of tries, but we just dug deep and came out with the win.
'Years ago Fiji would have lost that game. I'm so proud of the boys. They stuck to it, and it comes down to all the hard work and the training we did leading into this World Cup. We made it to the quarter-finals, and it was our goal to do that.'
The match in Nantes was a winner-take-all and for most of the first half, the islanders seemed to be in control as tries by Akapusi Qera, Vilimoni Delasau and Kele Leawere, as well as some excellent kicking by Nicky Little, who scored with two conversions and two penalties, gave them a deserving 25-10 lead.
But Wales came out of the change rooms a different side and Shane Williams, captain Gareth Thomas who was playing his 100th game for Wales as well as Mark Jones turned things in their favour and in the 52nd minute they were ahead 29-25.
Two Little penalties then brought Fiji back in front with 31-29, but when Martyn Williams scored a try eight minutes from time it seemed that the favoured Wales had come back from the brink of death to score the victory they needed to advance.
However, with just three minutes to go, Graham Dewes crossed the line for his side's fourth try, which Little converted to give his side victory.
The win sees Fiji finish second in the group behind Australia on 15 points, while Wales are third with 12 points. Fiji will face South Africa in the quarter-finals.
In the earlier games Saturday, tournament favourites New Zealand scored 13 tries on their way to a comprehensive 85-8 victory over Romania in their final pool match while Australia were less impressive, beating Canada 37-6.
The All Blacks, who were already assured of top spot in the Pool C and with it a quarter-final tie against the runners-up from Pool D, led 36-5 at half-time in Toulouse but the pressure never relented with seven more coming in the second period.
Pool B winners Australia went into the match in Bordeaux knowing they would face England in the last eight in Marseille next Saturday and were made to fight as Canada restricted them to just 13 points in the first half and six tries overall.
Prop Al Baxter got the first five-pointer of match for the Wallabies after 23 minutes followed by a pushover try by hooker Adam Freier six minutes before the break.
James Pritchard kicked two penalties for Canada early in the second half although sandwiched between those six points was a George Smith try Australia. Two quick tries from Drew Mitchell followed and Chris Latham got the Wallabies' sixth and final try five minutes from time.
Earlier, the All Blacks were much more ruthless with Sitiveni Sivivatu going over after less than a minute. Flanker Chris Masoe and full back Nick Evans also went over before Sivivatu scored his second of the match on 24 minutes.
But the biggest cheer of the match came on 31 minutes when Marius Tincu scored Romania's only try of the game although Aaron Mauger scored another try for New Zealand before the break.
Isaia Toeava scored the All Blacks' seventh try seven minutes after the restart before Rokocoko got his second of the match in the 58th minute after a strong run from Sione Lauaki.
Replacement hooker Andrew Hore kept the scoreboard ticking over with another try before Rokocoko completed his hat-trick with 14 minutes remaining.
Late tries from Conrad Smith, Doug Howlett and Toeava completed the rout for the All Blacks.
Next up for Graham Henry's side is a quarter-final tie against either Argentina, France or Ireland at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff next Saturday.
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