Portugal beats Canada at Jamor | rugby
This Saturday, the national rugby team defeated Canada, by 20-17, in the first of two test games to be held this November. At CAR Rugby, at Jamor, Portugal presented itself with a team formed almost exclusively by players who line up in the national championship, but managed to beat a Canadian team that after failing to qualify for a World Cup for the first time, is in the process of renewal .
A week before facing Japan, one of the strongest teams in the world, in Coimbra, Portugal appeared at Jamor with a team very similar to the Lusitanos XV, the Portuguese team that is competing in the Rugby Europe Super Cup, a new Rugby competition Europe where only used that line up in the national championships are used.
Thus, against Canada, the Portuguese coach Patrice Lagisquet chose a “XV” only where Diogo Hasse Ferreira, José Madeira, Thibault Freitas, José Lima and Raffaele Storti line up in foreign clubs, but even though not almost all the professionals line up in France, Portugal managed to defeat Canada. Quality merit of Portuguese back-to-back lines.
Going through probably the worst moment in their history, the Canadians, who are already out of the 2023 World Cup after losing to Chile – they had never missed a qualification -, dissipated at Jamor without their most established players who line up in professional championships Europeans, but managed to win an ever-important battle between advanced packs. And with that, they were very close to victory.
With a good start to the game, Portugal scored the first try in the fifth minute: after several phases of attack through the forwards, the ball reached Tomás Appleton, and the Portuguese captain, with a dribble pass, deceived the Canadian defense (7 – 0).
From then on, Canada gained some ascendancy and arrived justifiably in the test at 22′, after a missed tackle by Duarte Diniz in the 22 meter area (7-5). Even before the break, a penalty converted by Nuno Sousa Guedes put the difference in five points (10-5).
After the break, the “wolves” got back into good gear and after eight minutes they reached the second test, marked by Stori, after a good circulation of the ball in the Portuguese attack.
However, little by little Canada began to gain clear superiority in the duel between strikers and, with a physical game, scored two trials in the space of just four minutes, passing for the first time in front of the marker (15-17).
Apparently without solutions, Portugal was not able to react and avoid defeat, but in the last minute a play near Storti was finished by Manuel Cardoso Pinto, ensuring the victory of the “wolves” against Canada (20-17).