Portugal hosted the Netherlands in Caldas da Rainha and kept the World Cup 2023 dreams alive.

Article by: Nuno Madeira do O

The best part: A clear win for Portugal, with the bonus point as the cherry on top of a solid exhibition, with no doubts about who was going to win that match.

The not-so-good part: The first 15 minutes of the Lobos were a bit clumsy and with too many errors. A situation that must not be repeated in the match against Spain where a similar situation can be fatal.

Player of the match: It was hard to pick one in a match where several players (Pedro Bettencourt, Jerónimo Portela, Dany Antunes), played at an excellent level but Linha de Ensaio chose Rafael Simões. The versatile forward (played at number 8 in this match) was imperial in the air and constantly solid in both defence and attack, we several carries and metres gained. Despite all this, he still had time to score two tries before a well-deserved rest at the 67^th minutes. A giant.

The head coach Patrice Lagisquet made several changes to the 23 that started the match against the Netherlands. Comparing with the loss against Romania, there were 9 new faces on the starting XV. It was excellent to see Anthony Alves, Nuno Sousa Guedes and Raffaele Storti (bench) back on the pitch, as they can have pivotal roles in the two matches left in the Rugby Europe Championship 2022. 

On the pitch, the two teams didn’t let the Russian invasion of Ukraine go unnoticed and displayed a banner together to mark the occasion.

The match started with the Netherlands on the offence and that initial pressure came to fruition with the first points being scored through the boot of the full-back Te Campbell. Portugal tried to go forward immediately after but the Lobos seemed to want to do everything at the same time and even when they could find gaps in the Dutch defense, there were mistakes with the last pass and they could not cross the try line.

Eventually, Portugal calmed down a little bit and decrease the numbers of errors they were making which made life a lot more difficult for the Netherlands. The first of the nine tries scored happened at the 14^th minute: Portugal gained a penalty on a 5m offensive scrum, Pedro Lucas had a quick tap and go that caught everyone by surprise and scored unopposed. Dany Antunes (another come back after several months of absence) converted and put the scoreboard at 7-3 for the hosts.

From that point onwards, Portugal controlled the game with relative ease. All offensive efforts created gaps in the Dutch defence and the national team could have scored several times. At the 23^rd minute mark, following a maul, hooker Duarte Diniz scored Portugal’s 2^nd try and Pedro Bettencourt (excellent game by the centre) did the same thing at the 31^st minute, after beating three defenders (19-3).

Life got even harder for the Dutch side when one of their players was sin-binned at the 37^th minute. The minute after, Rafael Simões with a great line scored Portugal’s 4^th try. Dany Antunes converted and the hosts went to the changing with a comfortable 26-3 victory.  

At half-time, Patrice Lagisquet took the chance to give Storti some game play (this time as a full-back) and the Portuguese star was a constant headache for the Dutch team: at the 42^nd minute, he gained over 20 metres and created the chance for Portugal’s 5^th try, scored again by Rafael Simões.

Until the end of the match, the tries kept on coming: Rodrigo Marta (46^th minute), Stort (54^th minute), Bettencourt (63^rd minute) and Dany Antunes (73^rd minute), all scored, putting the scoreboard to a clear 59-3.

This victory (and bonus point) are crucial for the Portuguese hopes, though the key match of this campaign is to be played on the 13^th March in Madrid. With today’s victory against Romania, Spain has now 25 points, followed by Romania with 22 and Portugal with 21. A Portuguese victory puts the national team in an excellent position to qualify at least for the playoff that gives access to the World Cup. A defeat in Madrid and it’s adieu France.

The talent is there, the willpower too. Let’s go forward. Together.