Portugal came within a whisker of missing out on their first Rugby World Cup victory yesterday after missing a last-second penalty that prevented a victory against Georgia. Yet history was still made, with the 18-18 final ensuring that the corner team managed not to be defeated in the competition for the first time.
Interestingly enough, this match was played in Toulouse, the same city where the Portuguese team also came very close to achieving their first World Cup victory against Romania 16 years ago, but on that occasion the opponent turned the score around in the final match. minutes and eventually won.
After the 28-8 defeat against Wales on their debut in Group C of the World Cup, a victory over Georgia was of great importance, keeping Wolves’ hopes of reaching the quarter-finals high. And the way the team fought against the former Soviet Union team (even after a 35-15 defeat to Australia) made it very clear that victory was perfectly within their reach. Unfortunately for the Portuguese, however, the recent tradition continued: since February 2005, the national team has not defeated this rival, which is the fourth draw in that period.
With Vincent Pinto out and serving the first of two suspension games, the first moments of the match that took place in Toulouse, with 31,889 spectators in the stands, did not bode well for the national colors. Georgia, 13th in the world rankings, three places above Portugal, took a 13-0 lead, but in the 34th minute a spectacular try from Raffaele Storti, who reduced the score to 13-5, put it all together . team led by Patrice Lagisquet, who ultimately played a second half of great quality.
It should be noted that this 13-5 score at half-time was very flattering for the Wolves, as was the Georgian superiority, which was reflected in statistics such as territorial dominance (78%-22%), ball possession (67%-33% ) and on advantage line breaks (43-10).
The Portuguese “Cavalgada” made fans crazy
Two penalties taken by Samuel Marques allowed Wolves to reduce the deficit to just two points and another try from Raffaele Storti and the penalty converted by Samuel Marques allowed the Portuguese to take the lead, delighting the many Portuguese fans present in the stadium were going crazy. (in a clear majority, compared to Georgians). Remember that Storti only appeared in the starting fifteen because Vincent Pinto was suspended, after making the most of the opportunities and putting in a fantastic performance. Also at a very high level was Jerónimo Portela, who was considered the Man of the Match.
The last minute was crazy: first Georgia managed a try that brought the match to 18, as Matkava was not happy with converting the extra points. At the last second, Portugal came very close to their dream, but Nuno Sousa Guedes failed to convert the penalty and shot wide. However, it should be noted that the move was not easy to execute.
Remember, before yesterday’s draw, Portugal had played in the first round of Group C and then lost 28-8 to Wales. Wolves’ next match is against Australia on October 1, before ending the group stage with Fiji on October 8.
In his statements at the end of the match, Patrice Lagisquet revealed the conversation he had with his players during the break that was ultimately decisive for Portugal’s improvement. “The first half was very bad. We missed all our kicks and kept giving the ball back so we could put it in Niniashvili’s hands.” [jogador georgiano]. We also made a lot of line-up mistakes and didn’t show any discipline. At half time I simply said that we could be happy that our opponent was only eight points ahead and that we were still in the game. And I said to them, “Please let’s play rugby in the second half,” he admitted.
And although the corner team missed the chance to win at the last second, the national coach acknowledged that “taking into account what happened in the first half, this was ultimately a good result for Portugal”.
Jerónimo Portela, considered the Man of the Match, made no secret of his frustration that victory had slipped away in the final moments. “It was a very exciting game and I thought we could win in this last kick, but we made some mistakes,” he began, pointing to the match against Australia: “I think we will win next time and I would like to thank all the support that the Portuguese here in Toulouse have given us.”
Source: DN
