Portugal went back to Georgia, five months after drawing at 25, to play against the Lelos, in the last match of the Summer window.
Written by: Nuno Madeira do O
The best part: Very tight match with the victor to be decided until the very end. Portugal was very well in defence and showed a lot of improvements in the set pieces. A great performance from the Portuguese front row (Francisco Fernandes, Mike Tadjer, and Anthony Alves).
The not-so-good part: Some indiscipline in the first half that resulted in a fair few kickable penalties for Georgia. Towards the end of the match, with tiredness playing its part (Portugal had a 14h-long trip to arrive to Kuitasi), Portugal made more mistakes and conceded a try at the 80th minute.
Player of the match: Niniashvili was a constant threat to the Portuguese defence (and scored the try that ended up winning the game for Georgia) but our player of the match goes to Mike Tadjer. The Portuguese hooker performed at a very high level during the 73 (!) minutes in which he played. Very accurate in the line outs, was a crucial part of a scrum that fought toe to toe during the whole match. He was very active in the game (breakdown, carries) and, with two crucial tackles (35th and 63rd minutes), avoided two Georgian tries. A giant.
After picking similar selections for the matches against Italy and Argentina XV, Patrice Lagisquet decided to mix things up for the match against Georgia: Steevy Cerqueira was back in second row, with José Madeira moving to openside flanker. That meant that Thibault de Freitas was moved to number 8 with Rafael Simões having a rest. In the backs, João Belo wore the number 9 jersey (Marques didn’t travel to Georgia) and the captain Tomás Appleton was also given the weekend off. In his place, Portugal had José Lima.
On the bench, Nicolas Martins and Domingos Cabral were looking for their first cap. Vincent Pinto was also back to the team (jersey 23) after resting against Argentina XV. Georgia also made quite a lot of changes (seven) from the starting XV that had beaten Italy the week before.
It didn’t take long to see the first points being scored with Georgia winning a penalty, 40m away from the posts that Abzhandadze slotted in. Portugal answered back immediately and won a penalty right outside Georgia’s 22. Unfortunately, Nuno Sousa Guedes couldn’t tie the match. However, Portugal continued on top and forced three penalties in five minutes.
Unfortunately, Portugal didn’t capitalise on the effort and it was Georgia, on the second time that it crossed the halfway line, that won another penalty and double it’s lead. One had to wait until the 17th minute to see the Lobos creating danger again. Sousa Guedes with an excellent 50:22 kick and from the lineout, Portugal was awarded a penalty that the Portuguese fullback scored (6-3).
Five minutes later, Sousa Guedes scored another penalty but Georgia answered back in similar fashion and conquered two penalties in five minutes (one scored, one missed), moving the scoreboard to 9-6.
The match was being played around the halfway line with neither team making substantial gains. However, in the last five minutes of the first half, Georgia increased the pressure on Portugal’s defence and had three 5m lineouts in a row. Portugal defended exceptionally well, despite Duarte Torgal being awarded a yellow card, and Georgia didn’t cross the try line.
The closest they were to doing so, José Madeira made a remarkable tackle over Ninisashvili, avoiding what seemed like a certain try. At the break, 9-6 for the home team and all to play for in the second half.
The second half started with bad news for Portugal with Thibault de Freitas getting an injury with only three minutes of play. Despite that, Portugal tied the match with another penalty by Nuno Sousa Guedes.
Georgia put the pressure back on and at the 55th minute, won a scrum inside the Portuguese 5m that acted as a platform to launch the match’s first try. Modebadze scored on the right wing and Abzhandadze added the extras, moving the scoreboard to 16-9.
The match was still tight and Portugal, just like in the first half, carried on defending really well. Scrums, that had been an issue in previous matches, seemed not to be one anymore and even after swapping both props, Portugal won a penalty in a scrum at the 72nd minute.
Three minutes later, Portugal scored a try. Raffaele Storti with did great work in the centre of the pitch before passing to Rodrigo Marta. The Portuguese centre ran about 30 metres before diving over the try line. In the conversion, Nuno Sousa Guedes hit the post and Portugal was two points behind Georgia: 16-14.
With all to play in the last five minutes, the home team tried to get another score to seal the deal and they were successful. At the 80th minute, after several phases, Portugal didn’t protect a ruck well enough and Niniashvili saw the gap and quickly scored (23-14).
Despite losing all three matches in this Summer window, Portugal showed very positive signs. The obvious flaws from game one (scrums and mauls) improved significantly in the second match. Besides that, in the match against Georgia, Portugal held its ground in the last 15 minutes (they had been a problem in other matches), winning scrum penalties and scoring tries.
These are all very positive signs for Portugal for what it’s the team’s real goal: the World Cup repechage tournament. It’ll take place in Dubai over three weekends (5th, 12th and 19th) and Portugal will be facing Kenya, United States of America and the loser between Tonga and Hong Kong.
