Portugal national rugby union team

Portugal
Nickname(s)	Os Lobos (The Wolves)
Emblem	Portuguese shield
Union	Portuguese Rugby Federation
Head coach	Patrice Lagisquet
Captain	Tomás Appleton
Most caps	Vasco Uva (101)[1] ; Goncalo Uva (101)
Top scorer	Gonçalo Malheiro (279)
Top try scorer	António Aguilar (24)[2]
Home stadium	Estádio Universitário de Lisboa
First colours	Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	21 (as of 09 April 2020)
Highest	13 (2005)
Lowest	30 (2015)
First international
	Portugal 5–6 Spain; (Lisbon, Portugal; 13 April 1935)
Biggest win
	Portugal 93-0 Czech Republic; (Caldas da Rainha, Portugal, 23 March 2019)
Biggest defeat
	Portugal 13–108 New Zealand; (Lyon, France; 15 September 2007)
World Cup
Appearances	1 (First in 2007)
Best result	Pool stage, 2007
Website	www.fpr.pt

The Portugal national rugby union team is rated as a performance team in the World Rugby four-band classification system, the second highest. Portugal had their first match in 1935 and now compete in the European Nations Cup and occasionally in the IRB Nations Cup. The team as well as all rugby union in Portugal is administered by the Federação Portuguesa de Rugby. Portugal qualified for their first Rugby World Cup in 2007 where they were grouped in Pool C along with New Zealand, Italy, Romania and Scotland. They are nicknamed Os Lobos, Portuguese for "The Wolves".

Portugal have experienced modest success in recent years. They have qualified to the 2007 World Cup in France and although they lost all their matches they managed to score one try in all their games and led the score against Romania until the late minutes. Portugal were the surprise winners of the 2003–04 European Nations Cup, but though they could only finish third in the following event. The national side is ranked 21st in the world (as of 12 October 2019).

History

Early

Portugal played its first ever rugby international in April 1935 against Spain, losing by a single point, 6–5. They played Spain again the following year with Spain winning 16–9. Portugal had more regular competition from the mid-1960s, and won their first game in 1966, defeating Spain 9–3. Portugal played Italy for the first time in 1967, losing 6–3. They also had their first match against Romania soon after and lost by 40 points. They defeated Belgium in 1968, and also played Morocco for the first time.

The first game of the 1970s was a draw against the Netherlands. Portugal managed to draw with Italy (nil all) in 1972 and following that, defeated them 9–6 in 1973. After a number of mixed results throughout the early 1970s, Portugal won five matches in a row from 1979 through to 1981. They played Morocco, who won the encounter. After a 1983 draw against Spain, Portugal managed a seven-game winning streak from 1984 to 1985, including wins over Belgium, Denmark, Morocco, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Zimbabwe. The first Rugby World Cup was held in 1987, though it was by invitation, thus there was no qualifying tournament and Portugal did not participate.

1990s

From 1989 to 1990, the 1991 World Cup qualifiers were held for the European nations. Portugal started in Round 2b in October 1989. They defeated Czechoslovakia 15 to 13 in Ricant to advance to Round 2c. However here they were defeated by the Netherlands 32–3 and eliminated from qualifying.

Portugal again participated in the 1995 World Cup qualifying competition for European teams, starting in Round 1. They were pooled in the West Group, and defeated Belgium and Switzerland, but lost to Spain, advancing into Round 2. Here Wales defeated them, and they lost to Spain.

Portugal began play in Pool 3 of Round B in the European qualifying competition for the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Portugal won all their group matches except for the one against Spain, but still finished second in the group, which took them into Pool 3 of Round C. All games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland. Portugal lost 85–11 to Scotland, and 21–17 to Spain. Both Scotland and Spain went through to the World Cup; Portugal went into repechage, where Portugal lost a home and away series to Uruguay.

2000s

In 2002 Portugal began playing for a place in the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Pool A of Round 3 of the European qualifying tournament. They were grouped with Spain and Poland. Each nation only won one game, though on for and against Portugal finished second to Spain. Portugal were knocked out of competition. In 2003–04 Portugal won the European Nations Cup, losing only one match to win their first championship. In 2004 Professor Tomaz Morais, coach of the Portugal national team at both sevens and fifteen aside, was nominated for the IRB's coach of the year award. This was a remarkable achievement for a coach from a third tier rugby nation. Morais has been credited with much of Portugal's progress in recent years.

In 2006 it was announced that Portugal would receive a grant from the IRB to help develop their rugby to Tier 2 standard. Few details have been released thus far regarding how the money will be spent but it is hoped it will ensure that Portugal's rugby will be able to move onto the next level. In 2006 the inaugural IRB Nations Cup was hosted in Lisbon. The tournament featured Portugal, Russia, Argentina A and Italy A. It is anticipated that this will become an annual event and another medium through which the Portugal national team can develop their skills.

2007 World Cup

Portugal (in red) playing Italy

Portugal began their qualification campaign for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in 2004, as part of the European Nations Cup Division 1 2004–06 tournament. They won their first match, defeating Ukraine 6–36. They then defeated Georgia 18–14 in their second match, and then won their third match against the Czech Republic, and defeated Russia as well, but then lost to Romania. Portugal then drew with Russia 19-all, and then lost to Georgia. After a loss to Romania and a win against the Czech Republic, Portugal finished third overall in the standings, and qualified for Round 5.

Round 5 was played in October 2006 as a three match series between Italy, Russia and Portugal. Both Portugal and Russia lost heavily in their matches against Italy, who easily qualified for the finals. Second place came down to the final match of the round in Lisbon. Portugal won the match 26–23 against Russia to make it to Round 6. Round 6 was a home and away series against the Round 5 Pool B winners, Georgia. Portugal lost the first match, but drew 11-all in the second meeting. Georgia went through to the finals, and Portugal entered the repechage round where they defeated Morocco 26–20 on aggregate.

Portugal then faced Uruguay for the last position in the finals. In the first leg of the two-match Repechage series, Portugal won 12–5. In the second game in Montevideo Portugal lost 18–12. On aggregate, Portugal won 24–23, sending them to their first ever World Cup. Having qualified for their first World Cup, several players were subsequently arrested in the ensuing celebrations as a result of an altercation with local police. No charges were laid and the players involved were allowed to leave Uruguay.

In the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Portugal went to Pool C, alongside favourites the All Blacks, Italy, Romania and Scotland. Portugal's highlights included preventing Italy getting a bonus point, scoring a try against the All Blacks, and coming within a try of beating Romania before losing 14–10. They also managed to score in all the four games, unlike Scotland and Romania. Portugal team were celebrated for their commitment and passion, and for being the only amateur team to make it to the World Cup.

2008–present

After the World Cup, Portugal faced some problems, including the end of the international career or of the career of several key players, like Joaquim Ferreira, Paulo Murinello and Rui Cordeiro, and achieved only one win over Czech Republic in the final round of the European Nations Cup tournament, finishing in 5th place, their worst result since 2002.

On 1 November 2008 they lost at home against Canada 21–13, in a friendly game.[3] Tomás Morais to face the upcoming edition of the Six Nations B, that also qualifies for the 2011 Rugby World Cup finals, had New Zealander Murray Henderson assigned as assistant coach.

Portugal missed the second presence at the Rugby World Cup finals, after two surprising losses at home with Georgia (10–16) and Romania (9–20), which the "Lobos" had previously defeated 22–21 abroad. Portugal thus missed the 3rd place that would have granted access to the Rugby World Cup repechage.

Tomaz Morais was replaced by New Zealand coach Errol Brain, in October 2010, with a three years contract. He had mixed results, starting with strong performances but ended up with disappointing games. He was replaced by Frederico Sousa in October 2013.

Portugal lost to Germany in the 2015–16 European Nations Cup Division 1A, finishing last, resulting in relegation for the following year.

Record

Men's World Rugby Rankings
Top 30 rankings as of 9 March 2020[4]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		South Africa	094.19
2		New Zealand	092.11
3		England	088.41
4		Ireland	084.91
5		France	082.73
6		Wales	082.64
7		Australia	081.90
8		Scotland	080.68
9		Japan	079.28
10		Argentina	078.31
11		Fiji	076.21
12		Georgia	072.88
13		Tonga	071.44
14		Italy	071.07
15		Samoa	070.72
16		United States	068.10
17		Uruguay	067.41
18		Spain	067.14
19		Romania	065.36
20	4	Russia	062.13
21	1	Portugal	061.27
22	1	Hong Kong	061.23
23	1	Canada	061.12
24	1	Namibia	061.01
25		Netherlands	060.08
26		Brazil	058.89
27		Belgium	057.19
28		Switzerland	054.11
29		Chile	053.83
30		Germany	053.13
*Change from the previous week
Portugal's historical rankings

Source: World Rugby - Graph updated to 27 January 2020[4]

European Nations Cup

ENC champions

Season	G	W	D	L	PF	PA	+/−	Pts	Pos
2000	5	2	0	3	74	100	–26	9	5th
2001	5	1	0	4	77	165	–88	7	5th
2001–02	10	3	0	7	170	295	–125	16	5th
2003–04	10	9	0	1	245	180	+65	28	1st
2004–06	10	6	1	3	193	173	+20	23	3rd
2006–08	10	3	0	7	174	196	–22	16	5th
2008–09	5	3	1	1	124	84	+40	12	3rd
2010	5	2	0	3	131	65	+66	9	4th
2011	5	3	0	2	113	98	+15	14	3rd
2012	5	1	0	4	102	132	–30	7	5th
2013	5	1	1	3	75	96	–21	7	4th
2014	5	1	0	4	70	126	–56	5	5th
2015	5	1	0	4	52	100	–48	5	5th
2016	5	0	0	5	72	210	–138	1	6th*

Notes:

Portugal's last place finish in the 2015–16 ENC Division 1A means that they are relegated to Division 1B for the following year.

World Rugby Nations Cup

Year	G	W	D	L	PF	PA	+/−	Pts	Pos
2006	3	0	1	2	62	87	–25	3	4th
2007	Did not enter
2008
2009
2010
2011	3	1	0	2	60	89	–29	5	6th
2012	3	0	0	3	37	104	–67	1	6th
2013	Did not enter
2014
2015

World Cup Record

World Cup record									World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	+/−	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	+/−
1987	Not invited								—
1991	Did not qualify								2	1	0	1	18	45	–27
1995									5	2	0	3	85	177	–92
1999									6	3	0	3	153	139	14
2003									2	1	0	1	60	60	0
2007	Pool Stage	4	0	0	4	38	209	–171	18	10	2	6	283	362	–79
2011	Did not qualify								10	5	1	4	255	149	106
2015									10	2	1	7	145	222	–77
2019									8	6	0	2	255	82	173
Total	1/8	4	0	0	4	38	209	–171	61	30	4	27	1245	1236	9

Players

Current squad

Portugal`s squad for the 2020 Rugby Europe Championship.

Head Coach: Patrice Lagisquet

Coach: Hervé Durquerty

Coach: João Mirra

Coach: Luís Pissarra

S&C Coach: Olivier Rieg

Team Manager: João Constantino

Team Manager: Fernando Murteira

Doctor: António Cruz Ferreira

Physio: José C. Rodrigues

Caps Updated: 21 February 2020

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Rodrigo Bento	Hooker	(1999-05-18) 18 May 1999	0	Técnico
Lionel Campergue	Hooker	(1987-11-24) 24 November 1987	11	Cognac
Mike Tadjer	Hooker	(1989-03-10) 10 March 1989	16	Clermont
Francisco Bruno	Prop	(1995-05-28) 28 May 1995	23	Direito
João Vasco Côrte-Real	Prop	(1993-04-17) 17 April 1993	24	CDUP
David Costa	Prop	(1999-07-05) 5 July 1999	2	Direito
Francisco Fernandes	Prop	(1985-09-06) 6 September 1985	23	Béziers
Diogo Hasse Ferreira	Prop	(1996-10-17) 17 October 1996	10	Aparejadores Burgos
Yvo Morais	Prop	(1984-09-21) 21 September 1984	3	Châteaurenard
Kevin Batista	Lock	(1995-07-24) 24 July 1995	0	Bassin d'Arcachon
Eric dos Santos	Lock	(1993-05-06) 6 May 1993	12	Suresnes
José Madeira	Lock	(2001-03-19) 19 March 2001	4	Belenenses
José Rebelo de Andrade	Lock	(1997-11-24) 24 November 1997	9	Nottingham Trent University
Duarte Torgal	Lock	(1997-12-23) 23 December 1997	4	Direito
Jean Sousa	Lock	(1990-07-11) 11 July 1990	4	Montauban
Thibault de Freitas	Back row	(1992-01-08) 8 January 1992	7	Blagnac
João Granate	Back row	(1997-02-21) 21 February 1997	10	Direito
João Moreira	Back row	(1994-10-02) 2 October 1994	5	Agronomia
Manuel Picão	Back row	(1997-04-10) 10 April 1997	10	Académica
David Wallis	Back row	(1997-04-17) 17 April 1997	7	Belenenses
Duarte Azevedo	Scrum-half	(1998-10-16) 16 October 1998	5	Belenenses
João Belo	Scrum-half	(1995-08-02) 2 August 1995	13	CDUL
Pedro Lucas	Scrum-half	(2000-10-16) 16 October 2000	1	Técnico
Jorge Abecasis	Fly-half	(1997-05-25) 25 May 1997	9	CDUL
João Lima	Fly-half	(1998-08-28) 28 August 1998	5	Agronomia
Jerónimo Portela	Fly-half	(2000-11-02) 2 November 2000	2	Peñarol
Tomás Appleton (c)	Centre	(1993-07-29) 29 July 1993	37	CDUL
José Lima	Centre	(1992-04-24) 24 April 1992	31	Carcassonne
António Vidinha	Centre	(1997-12-29) 29 December 1997	13	Cascais
Dany Antunes	Wing	(1997-09-15) 15 September 1997	4	Massy
Caetano Castelo Branco	Wing	(1997-05-05) 5 May 1997	4	Nottingham
Rodrigo Marta	Wing	(1999-11-18) 18 November 1999	6	Belenenses
José Vareta	Wing	(1994-08-05) 5 August 1994	6	Direito
Manuel Cardoso Pinto	Fullback	(1998-04-07) 7 April 1998	9	Agronomia
João Freudenthal	Fullback	(1995-12-28) 28 December 1995	4	Belenenses

Individual all-time records

Gonçalo Uva and Vasco Uva are the most capped players for Portugal (both 101) and Gonçalo Uva also has the record for most matches in the starting XV (95).[1][5] The highest scorer for Portugal is Gonçalo Malheiro, with 279 points.[6] Malheiro is also the player with the most drop goals (12) and penalty goals (51).[7][8] Pedro Leal holds the record for most conversions (45).[9] António Aguilar with 24 tries is the player with the most tries scored.[2] Duarte Pinto has the record for most matches as a substitute, with 23 substitutions.[10] Bernardo Duarte holds the record for most matches as a substitute, without ever playing in the starting XV (14).[10]