Match Preview: Portugal vs Brazil

Portugal play host to Brazil on Saturday. The match will conclude a two match series between the teams. The Europeans were comfortable winners in game one and are now eyeing up a series win. Brazil are looking to bounce back and finish 2020 on a high.

Portugal have named a much changed side. There are two changes in the front-row; Nuno Mascarenhas replaces Duarte Diniz at hooker and Bruno Rocha replaces Diogo Ferreira at tight head prop. The remaining change to the forwards sees Frederico Couto taking over from Valentim Ambrósio at flanker.

There are just as many changes in the backs. They begin at fly half where Jorge Abecassis replaces Jerónimo Portela. Manuel Pinto moves from fullback to wing; he replaces Antônio Cortes. Also in the back-three, Raffaele Storti makes way for Pinto while João Freudenthal starts at the back.

Brazil have one change in the forwards and four in the backs. The same tight-five from game one will start in game two. The change to the pack coms at flanker where Michael Moraes has been named ahead of Adrio de Melo at flanker.

There will be a new halves combination. Felipe Gonçalves replaces Douglas Rauth at scrum-half and Josh Reeves makes his first start of 2020; he replaces Lucas Spago at fly half.

The two remaining changes come in the back-three. Lorenzo Massari replaces Daniel Lima on the left wing while Robert Tenório makes way for Lucas Tranquez on the right wing.

Portugal and Brazil have faced-off in five poor test matches. Os Lobos have a 4-2 winning record in the matches. Portugal were comprehensive winners last weekend. The 30-10 win was not only deserved, but it could have been by an even bigger scoreline. The goal-kicking accuracy was 2 from 6 attempts. The starting goal-kicker, Jerónimo Portela, landed 1 from 4.

Last week’s match and 2020 performances in general indicate that Portugal are the odds-on-favorites to win on Saturday. ARN projects a Portuguese victory by 16 points.

 

TEAMS

PORTUGAL
1 David Costa, 2 Nuno Mascarenhas, 3 Bruno Rocha, 4 José Madeira, 5 Rafael Simões, 6 Frederico Couto, 7 David Carvalho, 8 Thibault Freitas,  9 João Belo, 10 Jorge Abecassis, 11 Manuel Pinto, 12 Tomás Appleton, 13 José Lima, 14 Rodrigo Marta, 15 João Freudenthal

Replacements: 16 Hugo Mendes, 17 Duarte Diniz, 18 Diogo Ferreira, 19 Duarte Torgal, 20 Francisco Souza, 21 Duarte Azevedo, 22 Jerónimo Portela, 23 Antônio Cortes

BRAZIL
1 Lucas Abud, 2 Endy Willian, 3 Wilton Rebolo, 4 Gabriel Paganini, 5 Cléber Dias, 6 Michael Moraes, 7 Matheus Cláudio, 8 André Arruda, 9 Felipe Gonçalves, 10 Josh Reeves, 11 Lorenzo Massari, 12 Moisés Duque, 13 Felipe Sancery (capt.), 14 Lucas Tranquez, 15 Daniel Sancery

Replacements: 16 Caique Silva, 17 Yan Rosetti, 18 Matheus Rocha, 19 Gabriel Oliveira, 20 Adrio de Melo, 21 Douglas Rauth, 22 Daniel Lima, 23 Laurent Bourda-Couhet

Date: Saturday, November 28
Kick-Off: 3:00pm (Lisbon), 12:00pm (Brasília)
Venue: Centro Desportivo Nacional do Jamor (CDNJ), Lisbon
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Luca Trentin (Italy), Fillipo Russo (Italy)