World Cup Qualifier – Men’s 7s
Destination: 7s World Cup in South Africa.
Obstacles: Italy, Ireland, Poland, and Spain.
Written by: Nuno Madeira do O
Portugal v Italy
Portugal started the 7s World Cup Qualifiers against Italy, one of the teams that they had played against in the last stage of the Rugby Europe Championship.
The Italian team started the match on top and could have scored with only 30 seconds of play. However, Portugal’s defence was on top form and managed to close the gap. As time went on, Portugal carried on defending really well but its offense was very rushed and was hindering the Luso’s chances of scoring.
When all indicated that teams were going to reach half time without a score, Italy won a scrum near Portugal’s 22 line. That served as a platform to launch an attack and to score under the posts. Try converted and 0-7 at the break.
The second half carried on showing a very balanced match and with five minutes to play, Diogo Rodrigues with a kick and chase that covered around 30 metres, almost scored. However, those who don’t score, suffer and on the counter-attack, Italy did exactly that and scored (again under the posts) after a 60m run.
With 35 seconds to play, Portugal scored through Diogo Sarmento after a quickly executed line out. The ball went through all players, from wing to wing where the Portuguese scored unopposed.
The try wasn’t converted and the referee blew the final whistle with the scoreboard showing: Portugal 5, Italy 14.
Portugal v Ireland
Portugal’s second match of the day (and the last one of the first day of the competition) was against Ireland, the team that had won both stages of this year’s Rugby Europe Trophy.
The match started with Ireland on top but Portugal was solid in defence and didn’t leave a lot of room to play. The resistance lasted two minutes when Ireland won a ground ball and scored the first try of the match (not converted).
Ireland played a very solid rugby with an excellent defence which didn’t give Portugal space to expand their rugby. The alternative was to find space by kicking but even this didn’t work. In one of these occasions, and with three minutes left to play, Ireland scored their second try.
With ninety seconds left to play, Ireland had a run from inside their half and was too fast for Portugal’s defenders. At the break, Portugal was down 0-15.
The second half was similar to the first one, with Ireland attacking and Portugal closing the gaps. With four minutes to play, Portugal did a knock-on and from the resulting scrum, Ireland scored their fourth try and increased the gap to 22 points.
Before the final whistle, Portugal tried to score but it was Ireland who scored once again, setting the final score to 0-29.
Portugal v Poland
The match against Poland was particularly important for the Portuguese team as a victory would mean the qualification to the quarter finals and a change to fight for a place in South Africa.
Conscient of what it mattered, Portugal started the match a bit anxious, making some mistakes in offense. One had to wait until the second minute of play for Portugal’s first try. The captain, Rodrigo Freudenthal led by example and scored it after finding a gap on blindside of a badly protected ruck.
This try was what Portugal needed to make the nerves go away and for the team to unleash its full potential. Within one minute, Portugal scored two more tries (Freudenthal and Paiva dos Santos) and set the score to 17-0 with three minutes to play.
Before half time, there was still time for Rodrigo Freudenthal and Manuel Vareiro to score (hat-trick for the captain). At the break, 29-0 for Portugal.
In the second half, Poland tried to have more ball but couldn’t create any danger to the Portuguese team. Portugal didn’t slow down, despite changing the initial seven, and kept on scoring. Manuel Vareiro, António Cardoso, Frederico Couto, and Paiva dos Santos (again), scored the remaining tries and set the final score to 51-0 for Portugal.
With this win, Portugal booked a place in the quarter-finals and was one win away from qualifying to South Africa. The last obstacle: Spain.
Portugal v Spain
This was a crucial game and both teams showed that they were ready to fight tooth and nail for it. The first three minutes were very physical, with several changes in ball possessions without any significant territorial gains.
After that initial period, Portugal started to advance on the pitch and, with two minutes to play, score its first try: good handwork from the team, with the ball going from wing to wing. Diogo Rodrigues took two defenders out of the way before offloading to Manuel Vareiro that scored easily. Try not converted and 5-0 for Portugal.
Portugal kept its positive momentum and with 40 seconds to play, won a scrum in the halfway line. Diogo Rodrigues did an excellent chip and chase and was faster than all the Spaniards, scoring the second try of the match. At the break, Portugal was leading by 10.
The Spanish team started the second half wanting to turn things around and scored their first try inside the first two minutes. Shortly after, things got worse for Portugal with Spain scoring another try and leapfrogging them on the scoreboard (10-12).
However, Portugal answered back immediately and Manuel Vareiro scored another try, this time on the left wing. Portugal defended in the Spanish half, with a strong rush defence. The reward was a penalty near the Spanish 22 and, after several phases, the ball bounced awkwardly to Francisco Meneres that scored a try and gave Portugal an eight point lead (20-12) with 35 seconds to play.
Spain scored after the horn but it was too late and Portugal was the winner (deservedly). South Africa, here we go!
Linha de Ensaio spoke with the captain Rodrigo Freudenthal about this historic moment:
Congratulations for qualifying to the World Cup. how did you feel when the referee blew the final whistle?
Our emotions got stronger during the match. With forty seconds to play, we were ahead by eight points and we knew that, even if Spain would score, that we were going to win. When it ended, we looked at each other and we couldn’t believe what we had accomplished. Even today, more than 24h later, it’s still hard to believe.
In the last Rugby Europe Championship stage, you spoke about Portugal’s lack of experience. How did things change for this tournament?
Even though our team was even younger (our top scorer Manuel Vareiro is only 17), and despite losing the first two matches, we managed our expectations and won the next two matches. We knew we had to have an excellent match against Poland so we could be the best 3rd placed team, we gave everyone time on the pitch, and we were very confident for the match against Spain.
With the World Cup in September, how is your preparation going to be? What are your expectations for South Africa?
For the time being we are going to enjoy this victory. We will have a couple of weeks’ of rest and then we will start preparing in August. We don’t have any expectations yet, right now it’s time to celebrate!
