World Cup Qualifier – Men’s 7s
Portugal played the World Cup 7s in South Africa.
Written by: Nuno Madeira do O and Ricardo C.
Friday, 9th September
It was under the clear skies of Cape Town, in South Africa, that Portugal started its participation in the World Cup 7s.
The World Cup 7s had three sub-tournaments: Bowl, Challenge, and Championship. The pre-round of 16 (where the teams with the lowest ranking were) determined who played for the Bowl (the losers) and who advanced to the Round of 16. In here, the winners would play the Championship (from where the World Champion would come out of), whilst the losers would play for the Challenge Cup.
Portugal’s (and the tournament’s) first match sae Portugal facing Ireland in the pre-Round of 16, a very strong opponent that had finished 6th in the last World Cup and the last World Rugby Sevens Series (2022) in 4th place.
Portugal started the match on top, trying to keep the ball for as long as possible. Portugal attacked a lot during this period but it was Ireland, with 5 minutes to play I the first half, that scored. Good grubber to the back of the Portuguese defence and an easy score under the posts (0-7). Soon after, and using the same strategy, Ireland scored again. Try not converted and 0-12 on the board.
With 1 minute to play in the first half, Nuno Sousa Guedes won a lot of ground, beating several players before passing to Vasco Ribeiro. However, there was a knock-on and both teams went to the break with no further changes in the score.
Portugal started the second half wanting to change things but it was Ireland who scored again: tap and go penalty, ball to the right wing and try scored without opposition (0-17).
With the clock almost on zero, and during the period where Ireland had a yellow card, Portugal tried to score but, again, it was Ireland that managed to do so. 0-24, Ireland to progress to the round of 16 and Portugal to play for the Bowl.
Saturday, 10th September
Portugal opened the second day of competition in the amazing Cape Town Stadium, in Cape Town’s Cape Town. The opponent: Germany. The match started at 8:15am (local time), with empty stands but hopes of a great day of rugby 7s. Germany was playing the Bowl due to a loss against Chile (that were now going to face the mighty Blitzboks.
Portugal started the match on top and inside the first minute, after a good play by Sousa Guedes, it scored its first try of the competition by Diogo Rodrigues. Try converted and 7-0. Portugal got the ball right after kick off and scored another try, this time by José Santos (Germany was down to 6 men). Another conversion and 14-0 to Portugal.
With less than one minute to play, and now with Portugal down to 6 players due to a yellow card to Fábio Conceição, Germany scored and narrowed the gap to 7 points. At the break, Portugal was leading by 14-7.
Germany started the second half in possession and after a hard-fought battle for territory, scored through Fabie Hempel, with 5 minutes to play (14-14). After kick-off, Portugal recovered the ball inside its 22 but, due to a lot of pressure from the German side, Sousa Guedes passed to an opponent and Germany was ahead in the game for the first time.he second half was similar to the first one, with Ireland attacking and Portugal closing the gaps. With four minutes to play, Portugal did a knock-on and from the resulting scrum, Ireland scored their fourth try and increased the gap to 22 points.
Portugal tried to get back from this setback but to no avail. After a good progression on the pitch the Germans recovered the ball and kicked it out of bounds for the final whistle. After a great first half, Portugal was toothless in the second 7 minutes and ended up losing the match.
Portugal v Jamaica
This match’s goal was to avoid playing for the last place in the tournament. The opponent was Jamaica that had lost against Tonga that same morning.
The match started with Jamaica on top and, after a few phases and a scrum, they scored their first try. 0-7 with 5:30mins to play. Portugal seemed a bit nervous and made a few ball handling mistakes but, with 4 minutes to play, Paiva dos Santos won a lot of ground before passing to Fábio Conceição who scored (7-7).
With 2:30mins to play, Jamaica went down to 6 men and Portugal turned the pressure up, looking for another try. The Paiva dos Santos- Fábio Conceição duo was again in action with the latter scoring again. At the break, Portugal led by 12 against 7.
In the second half, Portugal played mostly inside Jamaica’s 22. With two minutes to play, they scored again: Duarte Moreira intercepted a Jamaican pass and scored under the posts (19-7). Portugal regained possession right after kick-off and Vasco Ribeiro scored Portugal’s fourth try.
Before the end of the match, Portugal had a great offensive play with the ball travelling between Duarte Moreira and Nuno Sousa Guedes, with Vasco Ribeiro scoring his second try and establishing the final score: 31-7.
Sunday, 11th September
In the last day of the competition, Portugal faced South Korea, in the match for the 21st and 22nd places. These two teams had never played against each other before and the latter had gotten to this match after losing against Uganda and beating Zimbabwe.
The match was very tight, with a slight advantage for the Korean team. Two tries in the first half against one by Portugal, showed teams to the break with 5-12.
Portugal tried to turn things around in the second half and managed to score the necessary try to tie the match. However, it missed the conversion and South Korea won the match.
Portugal finished the World Cup on the 22nd place. Linha de Ensaio spoke with the captain Rodrigo Freudenthal about the tournament:
What are your thoughts on Portugal’s performance in the World Cup?
We finished 22nd and we feel that we could have done better. We managed to go up in the ranking but we taste a bit like sour grapes, especially because of the match against South Korea that we should have won. Nevertheless, we feel that this tournament will launch us to what’s to come.
The match that “defined” this tournament was the one against Germany. Portugal was ahead at the break but didn’t manage the win. What did you lack in that match?
I think we needed a bit more patience, experience to control the match and a bit of ambition. We had a great start and, psychologically, went into a black hole very quickly. We saw a yellow card, had that interception but that’s part of the game and we must be able, in future, to turn things around.
Portugal has a very young team. What can we expect from this team?
I think that we have a lot of potential, no doubt about that. We are very young (average age of 23 or 24). However, we need more investment (and this needs to come from the top), that shows that they believe in us so that we can do better.
