Special First Anniversary

It has been a year since we published our first piece and announced (through Instagram) that we had arrived to the amazing world of Portuguese rugby. To celebrate that date, we decided to interview ourselves so that our readers can get to know us a bit better, why we started this project and what we would like to be doing in the future. Our big thank you to all of those who helped us this year – without you, there wouldn’t be a Linha de Ensaio.

How did rubgy enter your lives?

Rui: I started watching rugby in Cascais, when it was played at the Hipódromo. I used to go with my dad, when I was a kid. Later in life, I lived in Bath (England) and from that moment, I become an arduous follower. I usually say (jokingly, of course), that I am the only rugby fan in Portugal that has never played or has family members who have played rugby. Nowadays, I follow Cascais, both when they play home and away (if it’s in the Lisbon region) and, when I can, I travel for international matches or to watch the Premiership.

Ricardo: For me, it was through the influence of my South African family.

Nuno: I’ve been hearing about rugby since I was a kid (I think that my dad played when he was studying), but I started following it properly when I moved to England (2010) and started watching the 6 Nations. When I went to my first live match (Wales v Ireland, in 2016) I was totally hooked. Since then, I’ve played in England (amateur level) and I am not enrolled in the RFU’s coaching course.

How did you meet each other?

Nuno: Ricardo and I have known each other for a long time, through mutual friends and despite seeing each other seldomly (due to the geographical distance), we always kept in touch. Later, I met Rui…

Rui: That’s a whole other story… I knew Nuno and his brother João from my University days and when I heard that he had created a rugby website, I volunteered to help. I started writing some of the match reviews and I have happily maintained this collaboration since then.

How did Linha de Ensaio start?

Ricardo: It was born from our willingness to help Portuguese Rugby but also as a chance to maintain our links to Portugal.

Nuno: That’s right. It was a bit weird for me that Portugal had great rugby national teams but there wasn’t any website that wrote about Portuguese rugby (written press in Portugal rarely covers rugby). The website FairPlay did a few things but it wasn’t exactly what I wanted. When Ricardo mentioned creating a website I thought “Why not write the articles that I’d like to read?” and the rest is history.

Ricardo: I haven’t been part of Linha de Ensaio from the beginning – when I joined the website and some of the content was already created.

What’s the goal of this project?

Rui: For me, the main goal is to divulge Portuguese rugby. I think that there isn’t enough information about the sport in the Portuguese media and, if more people hear about rugby, then more people will start watching it, and the sport will grow.

Ricardo: Gain visibility, promote Portuguese rugby and, maybe, democratise the analytics in Portuguese rugby. Eddie Jones once said that, when people are watching rugby, they only care about what players do with the ball (or fighting for it). The problem is that that only represents 5% of what happens in a rugby match. What about the rest of the game? Is anybody looking at that? On that note.. have you seen our dashboards?

Nuno: One of the goals is to give Portuguese rugby a platform. We tried to cover several things (match reviews, interviews, opinion pieces) and help everyone (men’s, women’s, 7s, Lusitanos). The other goal is what Ricardo said regarding game analysis. I think that rugby still uses “ancient” tools (specially when compared with football) and I think that what we developed can be a big step forward to starting looking at what happens on the pitch from a different point of view and, therefore, move the game forward.

Portugal v The Netherlands

Spain v Portugal

Now, a year later, what can you say about your first year?

Rui: I was a very good year. We managed to write reviews for all the matches that Portugal played. I think that the website is really well-built and is a useful source for those who want to know more about Portuguese rugby.

Ricardo: A bit like the Lobos, we had a strong start but we have some issues with depth. If you want to help and collaborate with us, please let us know. We have plenty of ideas.

Nuno: I agree with Rui, it was a great first year. I was positively surprised with how helpful everyone was. This project wouldn’t be possible without the (great) photos that are given to us, without the players, referees, coaches, and directors that have kindly accepted to talk to us and that, in the end of the day, give us the content that make this project go forward.

And like Ricardo says, we are open to new collaborators (in all departments) and we would like to open this project to other people.

What are your plans for the future?

Rui: Carry on what we have been doing so far and, if we get more people on board, expand and try to do even more things…

Ricardo: Find new ways to help rugby in general (with a special attention to Portuguese rugby). For me, this is a way to keep connected with “home”.

Nuno: I’d love that, both us and Portuguese rugby, would carry on growing – it would be good news for all. In the near future, I’m salivating with the idea of being able to watch Portugal playing the World Cup in France. Despite already having tickets for all the Ireland matches, I can’t quite describe what it’d mean to go with the Lobos in that adventure.