Dominant Portugal Second-Half Sinks Canada

It was a competitive first half in Edmonton but different in the second as a dominant Portugal defeated Canada 38-14 in Edmonton. The six tries to two victory saw Os Lobos improving on a 14-7 half-time lead to score five unanswered tries before Canada ended the match on a high with a consolation try.

The fixture was a round two match in the World Rugby Nations Cup. The opening round saw Portugal losing at the death to the USA on the Fourth of July while Canada snatched a draw against Spain. Saturday’s result sees Portugal claiming a bonus point while denying Canada any points in the World Rugby Nations Cup.

The Canadians started the match strongly. A wide pass from Peter Nelson combined with an impressive run from Kyle Tremblay helped create room for Takoda McMullin. The fullback then fooled man-of-the-match Raffaele Storti to score under the posts.

Os Lobos responded eleven minutes later. Former Peñarol winger Manuel Cardoso Pinto broke brown the right side and had options with Samuel Marques getting the pass to score. Marques’ attempted conversion was wide.

The Portuguese claimed the lead three minutes before half-time. From a set-piece lineout, Manuel Cardoso Pinto, and Vincent Pinto combined with two brilliant passes that ended with former captain Tomás Appleton scoring.

The second-half opened with a sensational Portuguese team try. They looked like the team that did so well at Rugby World Cup 2023 as Raffaele Storti broke down the right. Touches from Samuel Marques and Manuel Cardoso Pinto followed before Vincent Pinto was on hand to put in the assist try pass for Guilherme Vasconcelos.

Portuguese advantage at a scrum led to the next score. Portugal ran with pace and angles with the backs unlocking the Canadian defense. Raffaele Storti scored untouched in the right corner.

Storti and fellow winger, Cardoso Pinto combined for the next Portuguese try. It came after a poor Canadian chase from a box-kick. Cardoso Pinto counter-attacked up field and put Storti into space for a run in for Os Lobos.

A box-kick was a contributing factor to the next try. This time its was a kick from Portugal with Canada losing the arial battle. Portugal’s backs were on hand to seize the opportunity and Tomás Appleton scored his second try of the afternoon.

Down 38-7 in the final minutes, Canada  had the final say. Spencer Jones kicked over the Portuguese defensive line and went to catch the bounce and score but it sat-up for his teammate, Brock Gallagher.

Both teams now travel east from Alberta to Manitoba. Canada face Zimbabwe on Saturday, July 18 while Portugal take-on Tonga.

 

MATCH NOTES

• Daragh Doyle, Liam James, Cody Nhanala all debuted for Canada.
• Tomás Appleton and Raffaele Storti both scored two tries for Portugal.

 

SCORING

CANADA (14)
TRY – T McMullin (18′), B Gallagher (78′)
CON – P Nelson 2 (19′, 79′)

PORTUGAL
TRY – S Marques (29′), T Appleton 2 (37′, 55′), G Vasconcelos (42′), R Storti 2 (48′, 52′)
CON – S Marques 4 (37′, 43′, 53′, 56′)

LINE-UPS

CANADA
1 Cali Martinez, 2 Andrew Quattrin (capt.), 3 Cole Keith, 4 Piers von Dadelszen, 5 Izzak Kelly, 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Evan Olmstead, 8 Sion Parry, 9 Jason Higgins, 10 Peter Nelson, 11 Noah Flesch, 12 Josh McIndoe, 13 Spencer Jones, 14 Kyle Tremblay, 15 Takoda McMullin

Replacements: 16 Dewald Kotze, 17 Sam Miller, 18 Kyle Steeves, 19 Daragh Doyle, 20 Cody Nhanala, 21 Brock Gallagher, 22 Liam James, 23 Jacob Ince

PORTUGAL
1 Luís Lopes, 2 Luke Begic, 3 Cody Thomas, 4 Martim Bello, 5 Duarte Torgal, 6 José Madeira (capt.), 7 João Granate, 8 José Monteiro, 9 Samuel Marques, 10 Hugo Aubry, 11 Manuel Cardoso Pinto, 12 Tomás Appleton, 13 Guilherme Vasconcelos, 14 Raffaele Storti, 15 Vincent Pinto

Replacements: 16 Abel Da Cunha, 17 Nuno Mascarenhas, 18 António Prim, 19 Guilherme Costa, 20 André Cunha, 21 Hugo Camacho, 22 Martim Faro, 23 Alfredo Almeida

 

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Jérémy Rozier (France)
Assistants: Tomás Bertazza (Argentina) & Mike Lawrenson (USA)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Italy)