- Calendar, in Pool C
September 16: Wales-Portugal at the Allianz Riviera, in Nice (5.45 p.m., on M6)
September 23: Georgia-Portugal at the Stadium, in Toulouse (2 p.m., on M6)
1er October: Australia-Portugal at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, in Saint-Etienne (5:45 p.m., on France 2)
October 8: Fiji-Portugal at the Stadium, in Toulouse (9 p.m., on M6)
Find here all the results of the Portugal team
Os Lobos (The Wolves). This nickname fits like a glove to the formation which intends to play a rugby of movement, based on speed. There would remain about 300 Iberian wolves (Canis lupus signatus) in northern Portugal. It is a subspecies of the gray wolf, endemic to the peninsula, once very abundant.
- Their best performance
The Portuguese have never won a single match at a World Cup. Well, it’s true that they only played four, during the 2007 edition: after two knockdowns against Scotland (10-56) and New Zealand (13-108), they had fared better against Italy (5-31) and Romania (10-14).
The Wolves’ objective will be to win a match, for the first time in their history in the competition. Their best chance – the only one? – to achieve this will probably be against Georgia, a formation against which they drew (25-25) in 2022 in Tbilisi, during the Six Nations B Tournament. For having finished the qualifying phase behind Georgia and the Romania, Portugal had to seek their qualification for the World Cup at the Dubai tournament, beating Hong Kong (42-14) and Kenya (85-0), then snatching the draw on the wire against the United States (16-16).
The forwards : Anthony Alvès, Martim Belo, Francisco Bruno, Lionel Campergue, Steevy Cerqueira, David Costa, Duarte Diniz, Diogo Hasse Ferreira, Francisco Fernandes, Thibault de Freitas, Joao Granate, Antonio Machado Santos, José Madeira, Nicolas Martins, Manuel Picao, Rafael Simoes, Mike Tadjer, Duarte Torgal, David Wallis.
The retarded guys : Tomas Appleton (captain), Joao Belo, Simao Bento, Pedro Bettencourt, José Lima, Pedro Lucas, Samuel Marques, Rodrigo Marta, Joris Moura, Vincent Pinto, Manuel Cardoso Pinto, Jeronimo Portela, Nuno Sousa Guedes, Raffaele Storti.
Able to evolve in the center, on the opening or on the wing, Tomas Appleton has been captain of the Lobos since 2019. The 30-year-old grew up and lives in Lisbon, where he plays for club Centro Desportivo Universitario de Lisboa. With the Portugal team, he scored 14 tries in 61 appearances. His English-sounding name is due to his great-grandfather, who hailed from Manchester (UK). Like half of the players in the Lusitanian selection, he is semi-professional, also working as a dentist. “We know who we are, where we come from, he said. We showed that we can compete with teams like Japan, Italy, Georgia. »
- Where to see them practice
The Portugal team has chosen Perpignan as their base camp for the Rugby World Cup. From August, the selection will take advantage of the facilities of the Perpignan Harlequin Sports Union and will stay at the Villa Duflot hotel. Portugal is the third nation to settle in Occitania, with Japan, in Toulouse, and Samoa, in Montpellier.
- He plays “at home”
Author of the last minute penalty which allowed Portugal to qualify at the expense of the United States, Samuel Marks embodies the Lusitanian selection, half of which is made up of dual nationals playing in the Top 14, the Pro D2 and in National (third French level). A master of Carcassonne until the 2022-2023 season, the scrum half had a difficult season, struggling in vain to keep his club in the second division. The games with Portugal were for him “an oxygen balloon”. Aged 34, Samuel Marques can wear the colors of the country, because his father was born there: “I feel Portuguese, even though my whole family lives in France, because we have kept ties in our country of origin”he said.
- The rugby expression that suits them well
“The ball in the wing, life is beautiful! » : this famous expression of the journalist Pierre Salviac agrees well with the game of the Lobos. Former French international winger, coach Patrice Lagisquet advocates a game of movement, and relies above all on the speed and talent of his three-quarters, the traditional strong point of the Portuguese.