Portugal played during the last weekend – 25th and 26th of June – in the Lisbon stage of the Men’s 7s Championship 2022. The Lusos finished 6th in a competition won by Germany.
Written by: Ricardo Camarinha
Group Stage
The national team was part of the Pool A, alongside Spain, Georgia, Belgium and Czech Republic. Pool B featured Germany, Lithuania, Italy, Poland and France.
Match 1
In the first match, Portugal faced Georgia at 10:44AM, local time. The Portuguese started well with the first try of the match, converted. The Georgians tried to score but after several phases in the Portuguese half, did not succeed in converting possession into points. Portugal managed to breathe and after a turnover, already after the clock had run out of time in the first half, scored again to put the scoreboard on 14-0.
At the beginning of the second half, the match was predominantly played in the middle of the pitch until the number 8 from Georgia received an offload from a team mate, to run alone and cross the try line. With 3 minutes remaining to be played and with the scoreboard now on 14-7, favourable to Portugal, the Georgians continued attacking in phases until Irakle Simvsive finally crossed the line again. The Georgians, trailing by two points, would then concede two penalties to the Portuguese. After gaining some meters, after a short lineout, the Lusos scored their third try. The match ended with 19-12 to Portugal.
Match 2
In the second match of the tournament, at 3PM in Lisbon, Portugal opposed the exciting team of Czech Republic which showed some quality during the tournament. The Lusos were pragmatic and showed clear supremacy, winning by expressive 26-0.
Portugal took only 50 seconds to add the first points to the score, with a try in between the goal posts. João Antunes converted the try. Quickly on the kickoff, Portugal won a penalty leading to their second try, however not converted successfully. The strong momentum of the Portuguese remained, and with an interception Portugal scored again. The half-time arrived with 19-0 in the scoreboard.
The second half did not change the story of the match. Portugal scored again halfway in the second part by Rodrigo Freudhental, after he ran through Czech defense. Already close to the end, the Czechs finally reached the Portuguese 22, however the latter held firm to not conceding any points.
Match 3
The first defeat of the team playing at home would arrive in the third and last match of the day, against Belgium. The visitors in this stage of the 7s Championship started very strong and almost score at the two minute mark, having lost the ball forward next to the try line. Portugal stroke back and after insisting within the 22 meter zone of Belgium, finally scored the opening try. Immediately when resuming the match, already without more running time to play, the Belgians scored, equalising the match thanks to a converted try.
Within the last five minutes to play in the second half, when the match was divided, the Belgians found the way for a new try, leading by 5. The Portuguese counter-attacked but found a solid opposing defense, forcing mistakes from Portugal.
The match was then interrupted for more than 10 minutes due to a serious injury from a Belgian player, the second one that far in the tournament. Short after resuming the match, for the last three minutes, Portugal would suffer a new try. Despite Portugal’s effort to score a second try, the match would end with 21-12 in the scoreboard.
Day 2
The second day of rugby in Lisbon started early with the last round of the pool stage. Spain and Germany were the leaders of Group A and B, respectively with 9 points. Belgium, Italy and Portugal could still aspire for a place in the final. There were high expectations for two matches, Portugal versus Spain and Germany opposing Italy.
Match 4
The expected Iberian derby had arrived. With Spain leading the standings by two points, Portugal had to win the match to attempt to be in the final of the tournament played in Lisbon. The Spanish where the first team getting closer to the finishing area, scoring the first try of the match. Only two minutes later, they would cross the try line again in the same area of the pitch. With the scoreboard showing 10-0, the Spanish continued putting pressure, resulting in a third try just before the end of the first half. But there was still enough time for Rodrigo Freudhental to escape the Spanish defense and score the Portuguese’s only points of the first half. Spanish led 17-5.
The second half welcomed an attacking home team, with José Paiva finding the space to score in between the goal posts and allowing for an easy conversion, setting the score on 17-12. Portugal almost scored immediately, but instead were the Spanish in the counterattack that by scoring a new try would distance themselves definitely. With a final try being scored by the Spanish team, Portugal suffered a heavy defeat and would be out of the final.
Match 5
The two teams that finished third in the group stage, would meet later in the day do dispute the 5th and 6th positions in the tournament. Portugal and France had both won and lost 2 matches in the group stage and offered a good show in their last match of the weekend.
The French team started better and in two minutes scored two tries. For Portugal, Francisco Murta quickly scored as well in the center. The game was continued being well played by both teams but it were the French who, just before the half-time, scored again stretching the score to 24-7.
The second half continued being challenging to what seemed a fragile Portuguese team. The French took only one minute to score a new try. Portugal, shy in the attack, managed to shorten the difference in the scoreboard, after a great kick to the back of the French defense, captured by Francisco Nobre who ran alone for the try. French would score again to close the match with 43-12. With this score, the French had scored 99 points in their two last matches of the weekend. Impressive attacking performance!
Three minutes after, phase after phase on the ground, the Italians scored their third try through their wing. With the conversion, Italy was now 7 points away from equalising the match. Portugal continued making unforced mistakes, continuously breaking their attacking momentum. The Italians got again to the Portuguese 22, this time through a lineout, and managed to drive a maul over the try line and score again. This uncovered one of the key weaknesses of the Portuguese defense and would be an important weapon to define the winner of the day.
The final
With Italy already awarded the third place in the Lisbon stage, after defeating Belgium by 21-14, the ultimate prize would be decided between Spain and Germany. Both teams arrived to this match with 4 wins but the Germans scored 111 points against 82 of the Spanish.
The first half started with the German playing on the Spanish midfield, quickly forcing a penalty in Spain’s 22. Shortly after the Barbarians scored the first try. Spain tried to reply with successive attacks, however struggling to dismantle the solid German defense. After a turnover and after an intelligent kick crossing the field, the Germanic player close to the lateral line escaped all opposition to run alone for the second try. Yet, after many minutes played after the horn signalling the end of the running time in the first half, the Spanish managed to score a converted try, setting the score at 14-7.
The second half showed more of the same. The Spanish trying to break the defensive line of Germany, unsuccessfully. Germany managed to breathe but were the Spanish who continued attacking. By virtue of its consistency, the Germans managed to secure their try area by forcing Spanish mistakes in the attack. In the last two minutes the Germans invaded the Spanish half and near the end scored the third try. There was no more time for the Spanish to recover from a two try deficit.
The Germans defended well, scored when they had the opportunity to do so and fully deserve to be crowned champions in Lisbon. Congratulations to the winners!
