Portugal: the matches, the team and the player to follow at the Rugby World Cup

2023-08-28 15:02:51

For its second participation in the World Cup, after having already been part of France in 2007, Portugal comes with ambitions to match its qualities. He will be the Tom Thumb of Pool C but will still try not to finish last. Thanks to a few explosive elements accustomed to French terrain, they can achieve this feat.

The story

In 2007, Portugal suffered one of the most stinging defeats in the history of the World Cup. Against New Zealand, the Portuguese conceded sixteen tries and only scored one, for a final score of 108-13. A hell of a slap for a team that was only playing its second game in a World Cup.

Form of the moment

Portugal was the last nation to qualify for this World Cup. After finishing in third place in the qualifying group for the Europe zone, behind Georgia and Romania, Portugal had to extricate themselves from a repechage tournament against the United States, Hong Kong and Kenya. And the first place was decided at the very last minute, when scrum half Samuel Marques scored a precious penalty to snatch the draw against the Americans, synonymous with first place and qualification.

Since then, the Portuguese have risen to power at the Rugby Europe Championship. Victorious over Belgium, Poland and Romania in the group stage, they only cracked in the final against Georgia, after a failed second half. Despite this result, the level of play of the Portuguese is clearly improving and could still rise a notch at the World Cup, as evidenced by their crushing victory against the United States in preparation (46-20).

Portugal match schedule

The list of 33

Piliers: Anthony Alves, Francisco Bruno, David Costa, Francisco Fernandes, Diogo Hasse Ferreira, Antonio Machado Santos.

Talonneurs: Lionel Campergue, Duarte Diniz, Mike Tadjer.

Deuxièmes lignes: Martim Belo, Steevy Cerqueira, José Madeira, Duarte Torgal.

Third lines: Thibault de Freitas, Joao Granate, Nicolas Martins, Manuel Picao, Rafael Simoes, David Wallis.

Demis de mêlée: Joao Belo, Pedro Lucas, Samuel Marques.

Fly-half: Joris Moura, Jeronimo Portela.

Centres : Tomas Appleton, Pedro Bettencourt, José Lima.

Wingers/backs: Simao Bento, Manuel Cardoso Pinto, Rodrigo Marta, Vincent Pinto, Nuno Sousa Guedes, Raffaele Storti.

Player to watch: Rodrigo Marta

The 23-year-old winger can’t stop scoring tries. Having hatched at Belenenses, where he trained since the age of seven, Rodrigo Marta made his first mark at Lusitanos, scoring five tries in six games. Spotted by Dax, he landed in France, where his qualities of speed and percussion work wonders. He also scored 17 tries in 20 games and participated largely in the rise of his club in Pro D2. In the national team too, he flies over the competition. After only 29 games, he is already the best scorer in the history of the Portuguese selection with 25 tries.