AT LAST, the World Cup sprang to life with a dramatic cliffhanger of a match in which the quality must have worried the teams yet to meet either of these sides. The game swung one way then the other and finally hung on the conversion of Kort Schubert’s last-minute try. Mike Hercus, the Australia-born United States fly half, lined up the tricky touchline kick, swept his foot through the ball — and watched it sail past the wrong side of the right-hand post.

The final whistle went and Fiji had claimed their first points of this tournament, while the Americans had to be satisfied with a bonus point for finishing within seven points of their opponents, the first of its kind to be awarded. The expression on the Americans’ faces said it all. Written off in some quarters before the game, they had played the better rugby and had won the try count by two to one. Yet they had still finished short of their first World Cup win and they did not know whether to be heartbroken at having victory snatched from them or bursting with pride at having pushed one of the more fancied sides so close.

For Tom Billups, the US coach, there was no doubt — it was pride all the way. “I should pause to say how proud I am of their effort,” he said. “I think our best rugby is right in front of us and all the players are very excited about the match here against Scotland. I think we surprised some people today, we were confident in our ability.” He refused to blame Hercus, pointing out that if other players had done their jobs a little better, he would not have been in that position. Mac McCallion, Billups’s opposite number, said: “I think we were lucky to get away with the win. If they had a little bit more skill, we’d have been in trouble.” The US crept into a 6-3 half-time lead, Hercus kicking two penalties to one by Nicky Little for Fiji, and appeared to have taken a grip on the game when Hercus spotted Riaan van Zyl, the wing, unmarked. His crossfield kick bounced kindly and Van Zyl collected the opening try. All along, though, in a neat reversal of stereotype, the Fiji forwards had been dominating possession and a second penalty by Little was followed by Marika Vunibaka, the wing, latching on to a dropped US pass and surging the AT LAST, the World Cup sprang to life with a dramatic cliffhanger of a match in which the quality must have worried the teams yet to meet either of these sides. The game swung one way then the other and finally hung on the conversion of Kort Schubert’s last-minute try. Mike Hercus, the Australia-born United States fly half, lined up the tricky touchline kick, swept his foot through the ball — and watched it sail past the wrong side of the right-hand post. The final whistle went and Fiji had claimed their first points of this tournament, while the Americans had to be satisfied with a bonus point for finishing within seven points of their opponents, the first of its kind to be awarded. The expression on the Americans’ faces said it all. Written off in some quarters before the game, they had played the better rugby and had won the try count by two to one. Yet they had still finished short of their first World Cup win and they did not know whether to be heartbroken at having victory snatched from them or bursting with pride at having pushed one of the more fancied sides so close. For Tom Billups, the US coach, there was no doubt — it was pride all the way. “I should pause to say how proud I am of their effort,” he said. “I think our best rugby is right in front of us and all the players are very excited about the match here against Scotland. I think we surprised some people today, we were confident in our ability.” He refused to blame Hercus, pointing out that if other players had done their jobs a little better, he would not have been in that position. Mac McCallion, Billups’s opposite number, said: “I think we were lucky to get away with the win. If they had a little bit more skill, we’d have been in trouble.”

The US crept into a 6-3 half-time lead, Hercus kicking two penalties to one by Nicky Little for Fiji, and appeared to have taken a grip on the game when Hercus spotted Riaan van Zyl, the wing, unmarked. His crossfield kick bounced kindly and Van Zyl collected the opening try. All along, though, in a neat reversal of stereotype, the Fiji forwards had been dominating possession and a second penalty by Little was followed by Marika Vunibaka, the wing, latching on to a dropped US pass and surging the length of the field to supply the scoring pass to Apisai Naevo, the lock. With Little’s conversion, the sides were level again. Dominating possession almost 60-40 allowed Fiji to play for territorial advantage, Little putting over the two penalties that turned out to be enough to win. The Americans had seemed out on their feet, but they found their second wind to launch a fightback that so nearly brought glory.

SCORERS: Fiji: Try: Naevo (55min). Conversion: Little. Penalty goals: Little 4 (33, 50, 58, 66). United States: Tries: Van Zyl (44), Schubert (80+1). Conversion: Hercus. Penalty goals: Hercus 2 (7, 25).

SCORING SEQUENCE (Fiji first): 0-3, 0-6, 3-6 (half-time), 3-13, 6-13, 13-13, 16-13, 19-13, 19-18.

FIJI: A Uluinayau; M Vunibaka, A Tuilevu, S Rabeni, V Delasau; N Little, M Rauluni; J Veitayaki, G Smith, N Seru (rep: R Nyholt, 56), I Rawaqa, A Naevo (rep: V Maimuri, 67), A Mocelutu (rep: S Koyamaibole, 56), K Sewabu, R A Doviverata (captain)

. UNITED STATES: P Emerick (rep: J Buchholz, 71); D Fee (rep: Buchholz, 56-66), P Eloff (rep: K Cross, 73-77), K Cross (rep: S Sika, 72), R van Zyl; M Hercus, K Dalzell; M MacDonald, K Khasigian, D Dorsey, A Parker, L Gross, K Schubert, D Hodges (captain), D Lyle.

Referee: J Jutge (France). • Fiji are to request that World Cup match balls be broken in, particularly in evening matches when there is dew on the surface. “The ball has a silicon film over it and I think that’s why there is a high error rate so far,” Mac McCallion, the Fiji coach, said.