Portugal have a base to build from – captain Appleton

TOULOUSE, France : Portugal were left to rue what might have been after they were denied a first ever World Cup win in their 18-18 Pool C draw with Georgia on Saturday, but captain Tomas Appleton believes the result is something they can build on in the future.

Leading 18-13 with two minutes left, replacement scrumhalf Pedro Lucas gave away a needless penalty that allowed Georgia to equalise, before Portugal's Nuno Sousa Guedes missed a kick with the final play of the game to win it.

"Of course we are happy with the result, but not happy with the performance itself," Appleton told reporters. "But I think we have really built a base for the future, especially next week (when Portugal play Australia).

"We made too many mistakes, we had many opportunities to win the game, we need to work a bit more."

Portugal are at their first World Cup since 2007, and their second overall, and Appleton hopes entertaining games such as this one will inspire a new generation to take up the oval ball in a country where soccer reigns supreme.

"We want young kids to start to play rugby, to have a team they can follow. In the next few years we want to have a great team and be on top of the world," he said.

Coach Patrice Lagisquet had hoped there would be a repeat of the scenes when Portugal qualified for the World Cup as scrumhalf Samuel Marques landed a penalty with the last kick of the game against the United States to send his side to France.

"Yes, I would have liked for it to be the same as in Dubai," he said. "But with the first half (display), the result is a good one for us."

Portugal had trailed 13-0 after half an hour but rallied to lead 18-13 going into the final two minutes, only to allow Georgia to scramble a draw.

"The first half was so