Rugby Europe Super Cup 2022: Fifth Round
The Lusitanos bounced back from last weekend’s defeat against the Iberians and beat the Brussels Devils by 95 points.
Written by: Rui Neto Fernandes
The best part: The Lusitanos ticked all boxes for this match: convincing victory with the respective bonus point and, most of all, a lot of points scored which may prove crucial in the fight for the top spot in the group.
The not-so-good part: It was a one-way match, where the Portuguese team dominated from the beginning to the end, and there’s nothing bad to point out.
Player of the match: Manuel Cardoso Pinto. It was a very productive afternoon for the Portuguese backs with the Cardoso Pinto-Sousa Guedes-Paiva dos Santos trio grabbing the spotlight (seconded by yet another great match by Tomas Appleton). However, Manuel Cardoso Pinto was a constant threat to the Belgian defence, scored three tries and was involved in three more, making him the player of the match.
After last weekend’s pale display that ended with a defeat against the Iberians, the Portuguese team travelled to Brussels determined to get a result that would allow them to stay top of the Western Conference of the Rugby Europe Super Cup.
The final score of 0-95 (incidentally, similar to the one obtained in Lisbon), shows how much of a gap there is between the two teams, in a match that the Lusitanos dominated from beginning to the end.
The Devils started the match on top and managed to hold their defence until the 15-minute mark. Ironically, it was when the Devils were near the Portuguese try line that the Lusitanos scored: turnaround quickly won, the Portuguese backs in full flight and Manuel Cardoso Pinto scored.
The Portuguese backs had a great afternoon and every time they got the ball, they managed to destroy the Belgian defence which kept the scoreboard going.
With 19 minutes of play, the referee Keane Davidson injured himself and had to be replaced by his fellow Irishman Johnny Erskine. It was with him in control of the operations that Manuel Cardoso Pinto scored his brace (0-17) and, four minutes later (32nd minute) the Lusitanos scored again: Appleton with the ball to Cardoso Pinto who assists José Rebelo de Andrade for another 5 points.
Lusitanos’ 4th try was scored by the scrum-half Duarte Azevedo (António Vidinha with the assist) and after another great play by Manuel Cardoso Pinto, they scored again, Nuno Sousa Guedes moved the scoreboard to 0-36. Before half-time, still time for another try, this time by the back row, Xavier Cerejo.
The Lusitanos got to the half time winning by 43 points but they knew that they had to score as many points as possible so that they could be ahead of the Iberians, in case of a tie between the two teams.
With that in mind, the second half saw more of the same: José Rebelo de Andrade scored his second of the afternoon after a great run by Paiva dos Santos and another assist from the captain Appleton. At the 48th minute, it was Paiva dos Santos’ turn to score, following a line-out on the left side of Portugal’s attack. The ball went from coast to coast where the winger scored.
The Lusitanos were in full control of operations and the Devils didn’t really have any ball possession. The few plays where they did were used to put the ball in the Portuguese backs so they could create more danger.
Appleton scored the 9th try of the match and Manuel Cardoso Pinto scored his fourth, two minutes later. With 60 minutes of play, Vasco Ribeiro (that had been subbed in), scored the 11th Portuguese try, following an assist from João Belo. He was again involved in the match by scoring a try himself: Cardoso Pinto kicks the ball into Paiva dos Santos that with brilliant pass from the sideline, puts the ball into the scrum-half that scores.
Vasco Ribeiro e Rafael Simões scored too (67th and 73rd mins) and established the final score: 0-95.
In the next (and last) round of the pool stage, the Lusitanos will face the Dutch side Delta but the 95 points scored in Brussels put the Lusitanos in a great position to finish top of their pool.
