PARIS (Reuters) - Italy were made to work desperately hard for a 31-5 victory over Portugal in their Pool C match yesterday as the amateur World Cup debutants once again produced a performance to be proud of.

Italy began strongly with a try for centre Andrea Masi and a penalty to go 10-0 up but Portugal, after spending almost all the opening half-hour defending, hit back with a try by lock David Penalva and trailed only 16-5 at half-time after two more David Bortolussi penalties.

The Italians, who thumped Portugal 83-0 a year ago, had to wait until the 63rd minute for their next points as Bortolussi slotted a penalty before a pushover try for Mauro Bergamasco and a second for Masi put some gloss on the scoreboard.

The victory, coming after their nervy 24-18 win over Romania, set the Italians up for a probable qualification showdown with Scotland on September 29.