Portugal name strong squad to prepare for Brazil

Portugal Head Coach Patrice Lagisquet has selected 38 players to prepare for the upcoming test series against Brazil. Os Lobos will host Os Tupis on November 21 and 28, with both games to be played in Lisbon. Each team has won two of their four previous meetings.

It’s a nearly full-strength squad with only three new caps, all France-based. Marcq tighthead prop Hugo Mendes, Aubenas flanker Valentin Ambrósio, and Dax eightman Luigi Dias add depth to the group.

There is a surprise return of Pau scrumhalf Samuel Marques after a seven year absence from international rugby. CDUL second row Rafael Simões last represented his country in 2017, with outside back Nuno Guedes back from a two-year test intermission.

Notable absentees include Pau loosehead prop Geoffrey Moïse, Anglet lock Eric Dos Santos, Oyonnax midfielder Pedro Bettencourt, and Massy winger Dany Antunes. Bassin d’Arcachon lock or loose forward Kévin Batista also misses out having debuted in February.

FORWARDS
Anthony Alves (Grenoble, FR), David Costa (Direito), Francisco Fernandes (Béziers, FR), Diogo Ferreira (Dijon, FR), José Lupi (Direito), Hugo Mendes (Marcq, FR), Bruno Rocha (Técnico), Duarte Diniz (Direito), Nuno Mascarenhas (Cascais), Mike Tadjer (Montauban, FR), José Madeira (Grenoble, FR), Rafael Simões (CDUL), Jean Sousa (Montauban, FR), Duarte Torgal (Direito), Valentin Ambrósio (Aubenas, FR), Frederico Couto (Cascais), Thibault de Freitas (La Seyne, FR), Luigi Dias (Dax, FR), João Granate (Direito), Manuel Picão (Coimbra), Francisco Sousa (Cascais), David Wallis (Belenenses)

BACKS
Duarte Azevedo (Belenenses), João Belo (CDUL), Pedro Lucas (Técnico), Samuel Marques (Pau, FR), Jorge Abecasis (CDUL), João Maria Lima (Agronomia), Jerónimo Portela (Direito), Tomás Appleton (CDUL), José Lima (Carcassonne, FR), Rodrigo Marta (Belenenses), António Vidinha (Cascais), António Cortes (Agronomia), Nuno Guedes (CDUP), Raffaele Storti (Técnico), Manuel Cardoso Pinto (Agronomia), João Freudenthal (Belenenses)