Draw in Georgia brings Portugal closer to the 2023 World Cup | rugby
Before the start of the match, a draw by Portugal in Georgia, a team that was 100% victorious in the qualifying phase for the 2023 World Cup, would always be considered an exceptional result. However, despite having.
With an excellent display in bilissi, the team was close to winning, after winning a draw (25-5) that brings the Wolves closer to a return, 16 years old, a final stage of a Rugby World Cup.
In the first of the Rugby Europe Championship (REC) 2022, the leading round of the second round of the phase disputes Europe for the World Cup, which will be held in France in 2023, Portugal faced the undefeated qualification, but it was never inferior.
Managing to balance the duel in the disputes of the advanced stages and their strategies -, Portugal, as usual against teams that are based on the game in attacks never of their own, under pressure, dominating large parts of the match or territorial.
In the first half, although the ascendant was always Portuguese, Georgia managed to lead by four points (15-11), with the points of the “wolves” two penalties from Samuel Marques and a try by Manuel Cardoso Pinto.
After the break, Georgia still extended to 18-11, but taking advantage of a yellow card for a Georgian (extended 10-minute exclusion), Portugal scored two excellent attempts (Rodrigo Marta and José Lima), creating the, by 18 – 25.
However, with about 15 minutes to go, Georgia put one of its weapons into practice and, after a scrum five meters from the Portuguese test line, got the test that set the final result in a tie at 25 points.
With this draw, Portugal is still far from first place (10 points less than Georgia), but remains in a good position in the selection: having already scored both against the Georgians, it is 4th, just one point away from the match Spain and two from Romania.
The first two classified in the sum of REC 2021 and REC 2022 guarantee direct qualification for France 2023, while the third will play a repechage.
Next week, Portugal travels to Bucharest to face Romania, which will be important for the final accounts of the qualifying phase.