Late try gives Portugal first win over Canada

A late try from Manuel Cardoso Pinto gave Portugal their first ever test victory over Canada by a score of 20-17 on Saturday. Played in bright sunny conditions in Lisbon, the match was largely a stop-start affair with numerous handling errors and turnovers from both sides.

Portugal were on the board early with a try through captain Tomas Appleton. A penalty gave them an attacking lineout and the midfielder picked out a gap between two defenders to touch down under the posts. Nuno Guedes casually added the extras to make it a full seven.

After a period of parity quick hands to Siaki Vikilani put the big No8 in behind the Portuguese defense. Three phases later Lucas Rumball’s offload found Cole Keith, with the loosehead prop bumping off Duarte Diniz and driving through the tackle of Thibault de Freitas to reach the line. Robbie Povey’s conversion attempt sliced off the side of his boot and drifted wide.

As halftime approached Canada were caught trying to play out of their own end and conceded a penalty for holding on. Guedes opted for the posts from a tricky angle and made good with the kick to make it 10-5 to the home side at the intermission.

Some rare continuity produced the second try for Os Lobos. They shifted the attack from side to side until the Canadian defense was stretched. Jeronimo Portela’s chip kick was regathered by Rodrigo Marta, and moments later an overlap appeared on the right side where Raffaele Storti was waiting to finish in the corner. The flags stayed down on the conversion attempt from Guedes but Portugal were now two scores away with a 15-5 advantage.

Once the clock hit the hour mark the Lobos forwards began to fade. Instead it was now Canada who looked the stronger side and back row replacement Corey Thomas made an impact with two tries in a span of five minutes. Both came from short range after sustained pressure, and the second was converted by Povey to give the Canadians a 17-15 lead.

It was not to be for the visitors, however. A turnover with three minutes to play gave possession back to Portugal. The ball was swung wide right to Storti in space and the winger put boot to ball. Canada looked to have numbers back but Storti hacked it on again and Cardoso Pinto won the race to ground the ball before it rolled dead.

Canada now move on to Brussels for a match against Belgium next Saturday. It’s a step up for Portugal in their next match as they host Japan in Coimbra on the same day.

 

SCORING

PORTUGAL 20
Tries – T. Appleton (4′), R. Storti (52′), M. Cardoso Pinto (78′)
Cons – N. Guedes 1/2 (5′), J. Abecasis 0/1
Pens – N. Guedes 1/1 (39′)

CANADA 17
Tries – C. Keith (22′), C. Thomas 2 (65′, 70′)
Cons – R. Povey 1/3 (71′)

 

TEAMS

PORTUGAL
1 David Costa (16 André Arrojado 63′), 2 Duarte Diniz (17 Loïc Bournonville 72′), 3 Diogo Ferreira (18 Francisco Bruno 72′), 4 José Madeira (19 Eric Dos Santos 66′), 5 Duarte Torgal, 6 Rafael Simões, 7 David Wallis, 8 Thibault de Freitas (20 Manuel Picão 59′), 9 Pedro Lucas (21 João Belo 45′), 10 Jerónimo Portela (22 Jorge Abecasis 71′), 11 Rodrigo Marta, 12 Tomás Appleton (capt), 13 José Lima, 14 Raffaele Storti, 15 Nuno Guedes (23 Manuel Cardoso Pinto 63′)

CANADA
1 Cole Keith (17 Djustice Sears-Duru 60′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Eric Howard 59′), 3 Jake Ilnicki, 4 Conor Keys, 5 Kyle Baillie (20 Josh Larsen 63′), 6 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 7 Michael Smith, 8 Siaki Vikilani (19 Corey Thomas 44′), 9 Ross Braude (21 Jason Higgins 68′), 10 Spencer Jones, 11 Kainoa Lloyd, 12 Quinn Ngawati, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Brock Webster, 15 Robbie Povey

Not used: 18 Foster DeWitt, 22 Lockie Kratz, 23 Isaac Olson

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Ben Blain (Scotland) & Adam Leal (England)
TMO: n/a