2023-09-29 18:19:50
Portugal faces Australia in the Rugby World Cup this Sunday, October 1st, in Saint-Étienne, in Gallic territory.
Published on: 09/29/2023 – 18:19
4 min
Portugal’s participation in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which takes place in France, is the best ever, as the ‘Lobos‘ drew 18-18 against Georgia and achieved the first ‘positive’ result, that is, for the first time they did not lose in the World Championship.
Portugal and Georgia occupy the last two places in Group C with 2 points, while Wales, leader with 14 points, is already qualified for the quarters after the 40-6 victory over Australia.
The Australians and Fijians remain on six pointsbut the Fiji Islands have a game in hand, having an advantage to move forward in the competition, as only the top two qualify for the quarter-finals of the competition.
Portugal still have two games left, the first will be this Sunday against Australia, in Saint-Étienne. Remember that The Australians won the World Cup twice, in 1991 and 1999.
The Portuguese Rugby Team drew, 18-18, against Georgia, in front of 31,889 spectators at the Toulouse Stadium, in France. © AFP – CHARLY TRIBALLEAU
In an interview with RFI, Rodrigo Marta, a Portuguese international, admitted that there were spaces in the Georgian defense that were taken advantage of by the ‘Lobos’despite him being frustrated with the final draw.
Regarding the game against Australia, Rodrigo Marta stated that anything is possible in this World Cup.
RFI: What analysis can we make of the game against the Georgians?
Rodrigo Marta: We were a little dull in the first half. We couldn’t get out of our 22 meters. We didn’t exist much in the first half, we didn’t have many opportunities, the only one we had was a try. In the second half we had to change our mentality. Patrice (ndr: Lagisquet, or coach) said a few words to us during the break. And we gave 100% in the second half.
RFI: It was close to Portugal not winning the game…
Rodrigo Marta: We knew we had to seize this opportunity. We almost won the game and it was a shame that last try in the last minutes, which took away our hope, but it’s the first time we haven’t lost in a World Cup. We managed to get some good points in this game, and some bad ones.
RFI: What can you tell us about your game?
Rodrigo Marta: Personally, I’m a little frustrated with my game. I made some individual mistakes. But happy for the team, happy for Raffaele Storti, who scored two tries. At the end of the game I gave him a hug.
RFI: What was missing against the Georgians?
Rodrigo Marta: We have already played with Georgia several times, we already knew what they were going to propose. I think the bad start was anxiety, we failed to believe that we could compete with them and that we were better than them. In the second half we changed our mentality. We realized we were equal to them or better. We turned the result around and it was very, very close.
RFI: Was this draw a good result?
Rodrigo Marta: Of course we can be proud of our ‘performance’. In the second part we managed to wake up. Patrice was very proud of us. He had a smile on his face, which doesn’t happen every time. The good part is that we finally had the feeling that it was possible to beat Georgia, a great rugby powerhouse. We can be proud even though we didn’t hold on to the result in the last few minutes. It’s not the best result, but we can be proud.
RFI: Now what can we expect from the game against Australia?
Rodrigo Marta: A game at the World Cup is always unpredictable. If we enter the game like we did in the second half against Georgia, anything is possible against Australia. If we play 80 good minutes, I’m sure something unexpected could happen. The World Cup is for dreaming and you never know. We go 100% for all games.
Rodrigo Marta, Portuguese international 25-09-2023
Rodrigo Marta (center), Portuguese international. © AFP – NICOLAS TUCAT
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