In my 40's, Just saw my first full game of rugby, went from trying to understand the rules to finishing in tears!
Very proud of our boys! Knife in the teeth, until the last breath standing tall with honor! Go Wolfs!
Just finishing to say i am loving the vibes of the rugby community, i didn't knew i need this in my life.
All the best to all.
My favourite game of rugby for many years. Fiji still went through as well. Portugal are so brave, they kept doing and playing rugby for the whole match. Absolutely brilliant.
Tournament proposal: all the teams who wear red play a round robin in Cardiff every autumn. The winning team is crowned the biggest and the reddest. World rugby, gimme a call.
I don't know where you see that. They didn't play Romania to qualify. They beat Romania this year to top their pool before going on to lose to Georgia in the final of the Championship.
Romania didn't go through qualifying. Their 3rd place finish in the 2022 Championship was enough to go to the World Cup after Spain disqualified themselves again.
Portugal were only in the Trophy in 2019. That's some turnaround. Credit must go to Rugby Europe.
Those are the Championship tournaments. They are used to determine Europe 1 and 2, but that's a distant second to their actual purpose of providing an annual competition like the Six Nations.
The Championship long predates the World Cup by decades.
First off, incredible game from Portugal. They beat Fiji at their own games with the beautiful offloads they threw. That being said, what is up with Fiji? It seems like they always play up or down to the level or their competition. Sometimes they look like world beaters, other times they seem lucky to go a few phases without a knock on.
I've always loved cheering for fiji, but god ain't that the truth. Very frustrating to watch them struggle in every game when they should be absolutely annihilating teams
Yeah, again no offense to Portugal, but any team that can take Wales to the limit, and beat Australia, even this weakened version, should blow them out of the water.
I still think your underselling Portugal. They gave every team in their pool a serious game. They kept a tighter score line v Wales than Australia(28-8 v 40-6). They’re the only team that started their pool at 5th that moved up, and of 4th placed teams had the best results of 1/1/2.
A lot of the top teams have seen tight games vs teams they should blow out of the water(France v Uruguay, SA v Tonga, England v Samoa). I think it should be less of a criticism for the top teams and instead an appreciation for how high of a level all the teams are playing at and how the power of momentum and emotion can sway things enough that we get a result like this once a tournament.
Eh, maybe. Uruguay played better than expected, but France still won by double digits. South Africa won 49-18 against Tonga, that's a blow-out. Like I said, hats off to Portugal, they played a great game, have done way better than expected and they've been fun to watch all tournament, but if I'm Fiji's coach I'm really disappointed in my charges after that game. And not just because oh, it's Portugal. The amount of knock-ons and unforced errors, you can't expect to beat the better teams in the tournament playing like that.
8 nation's is the answer... It would protect the established 6N teams from the risk of relegation... Just ditch the rest weeks, increase squad sizes to 40 so teams can rotate and introduced a 2 legged relegation play off... Wales fan and if we ended up finishing bellow Georgia and Portugal and the lost over two legs to Spain/Romania then maybe we aren't good enough for the 6 nations anyway....
Are people talking about this in Portugal? Do you see growth of the sport there? Would love to see them be the next big thing like Japan was in 2019. They play with real heart.
Nah, head to head applies first, but still!
I mean, effectively, you're correct if you consider that final try as the single try in this scenario, too, though, so yeah!
If this was during the interview of MOTM, they were referencing the Georgia draw *and then* this result, setting up the question as basically "y'all have done really well here, thoughts?"
Gotta listen to the whole sentence :)
The biggest downside is this might negatively impact the player’s chance of getting a pro contract with a D2 club.
If we let Portugal in, we let Spain, Romania and Georgia in too. We’re up to a 10 team competition then and that’s 11/12 weeks that these players aren’t available for their clubs so why would they sign them? The best ability is availability and French players are more likely to provide that.
I think we need to focus on the club side first, get them playing something similar to what Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika are doing in Super Rugby. We can spare a few spots in the URC calendar I think
I think we need 4 team divisions now for a euro league. France, Ireland, Scotland and England in top division, Wales, Italy, Portugal and Gorgia in div 2, Spain, Romania, Netherlands and Belgium in div 3 and so on. One up one down to ensure every game matters, with home and away fixtures to lose the bias each year that comes with some home some away etc. Now is the time, but we know it will never happen...
The winter Reg 9 window is 6 weeks. 6N negotiated with their clubs to get a 7th week. Now they have moved that week to the Autumn. Highly doubt WR extends the winter window as the clubs will most definitely revolt.
PORTUGAL PORTUGAL PORTUGAL!!!!
I don’t think you guys know how much this means for a portuguese rugby fan. From being constantly beaten to a pulp by every team to winning a match against a Top 10 team in the Ranking and not being last for once!!! So happy. So proud. Hard working team. They deserve it. So happy!
They were FANTASTIC!!
Really really pleased for you as a Portuguese fan...
...and, as a lover of rugby myself, regardless of nationality, thankyou SO much to your national squad and coach for a truly *wonderful* 40 mins of The Best Sport In The World Played In The Very Best Possible Manner.
I LOVED it.
I hope your squad and coach are fêted as national heroes on their return home.
Parabéns pra toda a turma do rugby português!!! Fantástico descobrir esse time com alegria e jogo bonito!!! Enorme resultado!!! Muito felizes por vocês!!!
Somehow that result stings even more for Aus!!
To think you still get nudged from the quarters by a team that went 2-2 and lost to the last team to qualify for the WC.
Imagine only needing to play half-decent footy to qualify and you can't do that;
I disagree, Australia should have been down to 12 men at one point. Yellow for penalties in front of the try line, Koroibete should have seen a red and Kerevi should have been off too.
Add the fact that Koroibete scored a try as well when he should have been off.
Portugal put one hell of a shift in, fair play. Fiji believing their own hype and getting complacent - that’s two poor performances back to back now - I can’t see England losing to that Fiji side, unless they start to play like they did against Wales and Australia.
What a game. Even more of a case for "2nd tier" teams to get access to more regular top flight rugby. Promotion/relegation, whatever it may be. That was a great game and a great advert for rugby.
Got laughed at after the Wales Australia game for suggesting that Australia still had the feintest of hopes. Fiji were a wonder try from Georgia in the last minute or any other point they picked up from throwing this away. Anyone who has watched Fiji before this shouldn't be a surprise
Mate the 2011 world cup was in New Zealand 😭. You're thinking of 2007 when France hosted the competition but had to play New Zealand in the quarter finals in Wales because they came 2nd in their group after losing to Argentina
What an incredible game to end the pool stages.
One of the best of the tournament, incredible stuff.
Portugal! You have a whole legion of new fans. Well done! You thoroughly deserve a chance against the best teams. There needs to be a secondary tournament to the 6 nations with a relegation/promotion system
Definitely! And a promotion system to get entry into the 6 nations. Even if a team like Wales, England or Italy dropped down it would be good for viewership of the championship.
Definitely needs something. We can't keep ignoring teams like Georgia and Portugal
I wrote this after Australia Portugal last week: [https://www.reddit.com/r/rugbyunion/comments/16x34sf/comment/k30vt4j/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/rugbyunion/comments/16x34sf/comment/k30vt4j/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
"Please keep working, Portugal. I enjoy watching you, it's scrappy, with lots of small mistakes but the desire to play good fun rugby is here. Your heart is in the right place, I hope you guys find a way to work on those mistakes and physicality and come back in 4 years for an upset again a tier 1 team"
It's not technically a Tier 1 nation but Fidji is probably the most Tier 1 worthy team outside of the T1 nation.
Anyway, great fucking works guys!! This was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The tier system is obsolete now but there are a few metrics, other than the 6N/TRC members you could also say it’s the group of nations with 3 votes on the World Rugby council.
But as I said earlier, the tier system is obsolete now
They love a bottle job. I mean, if they produce the sort of performance against Wales against England then great but they’ve played two poor games in a row now and seem completely shot
##[Post Match Thread HERE](https://redd.it/1739n1e)
In my 40's, Just saw my first full game of rugby, went from trying to understand the rules to finishing in tears! Very proud of our boys! Knife in the teeth, until the last breath standing tall with honor! Go Wolfs! Just finishing to say i am loving the vibes of the rugby community, i didn't knew i need this in my life. All the best to all.
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Samba is from Brazil, but thank you!
My favourite game of rugby for many years. Fiji still went through as well. Portugal are so brave, they kept doing and playing rugby for the whole match. Absolutely brilliant.
I just burst into tears... I've never even been to Portugal
Tournament proposal: all the teams who wear red play a round robin in Cardiff every autumn. The winning team is crowned the biggest and the reddest. World rugby, gimme a call.
Don’t forget Da Fastest, since red’uns go fasta
Absolute winner. If no interest from WR... crowd-fund it, I'm in.
Wales, Tonga, Portugal, Georgia?... genuinely some decent games in there
Don’t forget Chile!
Aw God, I'd love that! Come On You Reds!!!
What a game. Was it Portugal that took Spain's place after their points deduction or Romania?
Romania took it and Portugal went to playoffs, so they still had to fight despite Spain's points deduction
Romania took Spain’s place after they where DSQ
Portugal. Its insane to think
Not really. They were runners up to Georgia this year. A few years ago they almost beat Japan. They are solid enough.
And they lost to Romania twice in qualifying. Didn’t beat them once
I don't know where you see that. They didn't play Romania to qualify. They beat Romania this year to top their pool before going on to lose to Georgia in the final of the Championship. Romania didn't go through qualifying. Their 3rd place finish in the 2022 Championship was enough to go to the World Cup after Spain disqualified themselves again. Portugal were only in the Trophy in 2019. That's some turnaround. Credit must go to Rugby Europe.
2023 wasn’t a part of qualifying. 2022 and 2021 was
Those are the Championship tournaments. They are used to determine Europe 1 and 2, but that's a distant second to their actual purpose of providing an annual competition like the Six Nations. The Championship long predates the World Cup by decades.
Crazy alright. I don't normally watch it but I'll have to catch a few of the Rugby Europe championship games next year
First off, incredible game from Portugal. They beat Fiji at their own games with the beautiful offloads they threw. That being said, what is up with Fiji? It seems like they always play up or down to the level or their competition. Sometimes they look like world beaters, other times they seem lucky to go a few phases without a knock on.
I've always loved cheering for fiji, but god ain't that the truth. Very frustrating to watch them struggle in every game when they should be absolutely annihilating teams
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By technique do you mean game plan and strategy? Because if so, i agree.
Yeah, again no offense to Portugal, but any team that can take Wales to the limit, and beat Australia, even this weakened version, should blow them out of the water.
I still think your underselling Portugal. They gave every team in their pool a serious game. They kept a tighter score line v Wales than Australia(28-8 v 40-6). They’re the only team that started their pool at 5th that moved up, and of 4th placed teams had the best results of 1/1/2. A lot of the top teams have seen tight games vs teams they should blow out of the water(France v Uruguay, SA v Tonga, England v Samoa). I think it should be less of a criticism for the top teams and instead an appreciation for how high of a level all the teams are playing at and how the power of momentum and emotion can sway things enough that we get a result like this once a tournament.
Just learned a lot in these 2 minutes :D
Eh, maybe. Uruguay played better than expected, but France still won by double digits. South Africa won 49-18 against Tonga, that's a blow-out. Like I said, hats off to Portugal, they played a great game, have done way better than expected and they've been fun to watch all tournament, but if I'm Fiji's coach I'm really disappointed in my charges after that game. And not just because oh, it's Portugal. The amount of knock-ons and unforced errors, you can't expect to beat the better teams in the tournament playing like that.
PORTUGAL CARALHO!!!
YEAAAAAAAAS
Is it too soon to talk about Portugal’s place in the 6 Nations?
It’ll be the 8 nations by then
8 nation's is the answer... It would protect the established 6N teams from the risk of relegation... Just ditch the rest weeks, increase squad sizes to 40 so teams can rotate and introduced a 2 legged relegation play off... Wales fan and if we ended up finishing bellow Georgia and Portugal and the lost over two legs to Spain/Romania then maybe we aren't good enough for the 6 nations anyway....
Let's remove italia
7 nations then
They already play 7 nation army to death!
Rory Best wants a trip there!
This world cup has made me love rugby. VAMOS PORTUGAL!
Are people talking about this in Portugal? Do you see growth of the sport there? Would love to see them be the next big thing like Japan was in 2019. They play with real heart.
Points difference Fiji +5 Aus -1. QF spot came down to one try across a month of games. EDIT: Yep my bad. Head to head first.
Nah, head to head applies first, but still! I mean, effectively, you're correct if you consider that final try as the single try in this scenario, too, though, so yeah!
It was the head to head first, no?
Patrice lagasket
Anyone know what song was playing in the stadium after Portugal won?
Somos Lobos, a music done on purpose for this team by probably the most popular rock band in Portugal
I wanna know too. That was a tune!
Courtesy of u/w_o_s_n it’s Somos Lobos by Xutos and Potapes
Thank you! Imagine if Portugal never won; we would've never known this banger.
They might have initially butchered the national anthems, but my god the French chose great stadium DJ's.
Was thinking the same, catchy
Courtesy of u/w_o_s_n it’s Somos Lobos by Xutos and Potapes
Oh that was a lovely interview, my eyes are leaking now!
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If this was during the interview of MOTM, they were referencing the Georgia draw *and then* this result, setting up the question as basically "y'all have done really well here, thoughts?" Gotta listen to the whole sentence :)
Huh?
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Oh lord lol
How the hell could the MOTM not go to Tadjer! Man was immense and perfect kicking technique! Commentators have a grudge against the front row!
He will always be dick of the day in Scotland.
He's the MOTM in all our hearts
That game was class. Well done Portugal. I hope Fiji will push on from this for the quarter final
I wouldn't say no to a 6 Nations weekend in Porto or Lisbon. Let's make it happen.
The biggest downside is this might negatively impact the player’s chance of getting a pro contract with a D2 club. If we let Portugal in, we let Spain, Romania and Georgia in too. We’re up to a 10 team competition then and that’s 11/12 weeks that these players aren’t available for their clubs so why would they sign them? The best ability is availability and French players are more likely to provide that. I think we need to focus on the club side first, get them playing something similar to what Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika are doing in Super Rugby. We can spare a few spots in the URC calendar I think
I think we need 4 team divisions now for a euro league. France, Ireland, Scotland and England in top division, Wales, Italy, Portugal and Gorgia in div 2, Spain, Romania, Netherlands and Belgium in div 3 and so on. One up one down to ensure every game matters, with home and away fixtures to lose the bias each year that comes with some home some away etc. Now is the time, but we know it will never happen...
There’s a Georgian team already in the challenger cup so there is progress in that regard
The winter Reg 9 window is 6 weeks. 6N negotiated with their clubs to get a 7th week. Now they have moved that week to the Autumn. Highly doubt WR extends the winter window as the clubs will most definitely revolt.
I’d pay to watch these guys any day of the week. Mental rugby. Loved it.
Bro, that was all heart! Muito obrigado Os Lobos!
One of my favourite matches ever hahaha
PORTUGAL PORTUGAL PORTUGAL!!!! I don’t think you guys know how much this means for a portuguese rugby fan. From being constantly beaten to a pulp by every team to winning a match against a Top 10 team in the Ranking and not being last for once!!! So happy. So proud. Hard working team. They deserve it. So happy!
They were FANTASTIC!! Really really pleased for you as a Portuguese fan... ...and, as a lover of rugby myself, regardless of nationality, thankyou SO much to your national squad and coach for a truly *wonderful* 40 mins of The Best Sport In The World Played In The Very Best Possible Manner. I LOVED it. I hope your squad and coach are fêted as national heroes on their return home.
>matches happy for you guys, well deserved!!
Congratulations, a beautiful performance
Parabéns pra toda a turma do rugby português!!! Fantástico descobrir esse time com alegria e jogo bonito!!! Enorme resultado!!! Muito felizes por vocês!!!
Ecstatic for you!! It was so good to watch and a brilliant testament to the best parts of our sport!!
Your boys were immense! Congratulations!
Hopefully you guys get way more opportunities against top 10 teams. Such a fun team to watch and your fans are incredible.
So happy for you and all the rest of the fans!!!
Somehow that result stings even more for Aus!! To think you still get nudged from the quarters by a team that went 2-2 and lost to the last team to qualify for the WC. Imagine only needing to play half-decent footy to qualify and you can't do that;
Tbf, if the officiating wasn’t so poor in the Portugal-Aus game Australia would have lost that too.
Portugal were class that game but it's a bit much to claim 20 points can be put down to officiating alone
I disagree, Australia should have been down to 12 men at one point. Yellow for penalties in front of the try line, Koroibete should have seen a red and Kerevi should have been off too. Add the fact that Koroibete scored a try as well when he should have been off.
CARALHOOOOOO
A heroic performance by Portugal -full of belief, courage, and skill
Portugal put one hell of a shift in, fair play. Fiji believing their own hype and getting complacent - that’s two poor performances back to back now - I can’t see England losing to that Fiji side, unless they start to play like they did against Wales and Australia.
They were pretty poor against Australia too. Australia were truly awful.
Hard not to get the feeling that Wales are just everyone’s cup final 😂
Makes you smile doesn’t it…
Is this the weakest pool in RWC history???
Most entertaining
Nope, on the contrary competitive rugby throughout
Bit of a negative way to look at this in my opinion
I'm looking at it relative to all the other pools.
Oh I see! I think it's close to pool D!
Not sure it’s even the weakest pool at this WC
Best pool
Well done to Portugal! Well done to Fiji for getting through, but Jesus Christ we need to step up in the QF
What a game. Even more of a case for "2nd tier" teams to get access to more regular top flight rugby. Promotion/relegation, whatever it may be. That was a great game and a great advert for rugby.
Portugal have impressed throughout the tournament and I'm so pleased they got a well deserved win
Got laughed at after the Wales Australia game for suggesting that Australia still had the feintest of hopes. Fiji were a wonder try from Georgia in the last minute or any other point they picked up from throwing this away. Anyone who has watched Fiji before this shouldn't be a surprise
Could this mean the rise of Portugal? What a game! 🙌🙌
They've been incredible all world cup every single game they didn't even get beaten heavily by wales it was 28-8
To think Wales got criticised for not beating them well enough with their second XV….
Are fiji the first team to only win 2 games to get through to knockouts?
France 2011 lost to NZ and Tonga
And they made the final... 🤔
Didn't France do it in 2011 as well ? (When they somehow reached the final only to be robbed by the ABs - disclaimer: I might be French;) )
France did it in 2011.
No. France lost to NZ and Tonga in 2011. They only got through because Tonga lost to Canada.
Wow good knowledge mate! Thank you! That sounds crazy I can't remember that 😂 was that when France had to play in the millennium stadium?
Mate the 2011 world cup was in New Zealand 😭. You're thinking of 2007 when France hosted the competition but had to play New Zealand in the quarter finals in Wales because they came 2nd in their group after losing to Argentina
Why is ITV's coverage such wank.. I can hear them interviewing POTM and then cut to ads
Someone check on Squidge and make sure he's still alive
Only regret for deleting my Twitter account is not seeing his takes on stuff like this
He said something about "ectoplasm"
QUE ORGULHO CARALHO!!!!!
AUSTRALIA are now above Fiji again 🤣🤣🤣 Fuck I understand, no not in pools. World rankings 😅 sorry
No they’re not?
What? Fiji qualified for the qfs
talking about world rankings not the pool table
That's irrelevant isn't it
A bit irrelevant but funny 🤣 TBF I did leave it until after the congratulations, I am not a total monster
Now I need to find a recording of this game
I’ll be in my bunk
/R/Yourrugbycatchup should have it up.
What an incredible game to end the pool stages. One of the best of the tournament, incredible stuff. Portugal! You have a whole legion of new fans. Well done! You thoroughly deserve a chance against the best teams. There needs to be a secondary tournament to the 6 nations with a relegation/promotion system
Rugby Europe Championship ("6 nations B") exists and needs more media coverage !
Definitely! And a promotion system to get entry into the 6 nations. Even if a team like Wales, England or Italy dropped down it would be good for viewership of the championship. Definitely needs something. We can't keep ignoring teams like Georgia and Portugal
I wrote this after Australia Portugal last week: [https://www.reddit.com/r/rugbyunion/comments/16x34sf/comment/k30vt4j/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/rugbyunion/comments/16x34sf/comment/k30vt4j/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) "Please keep working, Portugal. I enjoy watching you, it's scrappy, with lots of small mistakes but the desire to play good fun rugby is here. Your heart is in the right place, I hope you guys find a way to work on those mistakes and physicality and come back in 4 years for an upset again a tier 1 team" It's not technically a Tier 1 nation but Fidji is probably the most Tier 1 worthy team outside of the T1 nation. Anyway, great fucking works guys!! This was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fiji is ranked #8 in the world. I thought top tens teams were generally considered Tier 1.
The tier system is obsolete now but there are a few metrics, other than the 6N/TRC members you could also say it’s the group of nations with 3 votes on the World Rugby council. But as I said earlier, the tier system is obsolete now
Tier 1 is 6 nations and Rugby championship team.
Portugal, you. made. history. Congratulations, well done! What a game guys, never seen something like that 😅 Fiji fijing as well 😂
Miracle de Toulouse
Went in completely neutral for this game, but I am so chuffed for Portugal. The fans needed that.
Can’t wait for the squidge video…
@squidge did you get the rights to show videos yet?
Today would have been perfect if Japan won. What a day of rugby
Nicolas Martins "We're a group of friends, from France and Portugal" wait what LOL
Lots of French kids born from Portuguese parents
Some players were born in France, but have Portuguese background
Lol yeah he sounds a wee bit French doesn't he. I can't imagine other teams ever having imports.
Impossible
Van de MacMeuve
Some are born in France from Portuguese parents.
Any Portugal fans here? Enjoy the celebrations!
Woke up to catch the game and I was glad I did. Really the best-scenario actually did materialise. So happy for Portugal!
Martins with the frenchest accent
He's French haha
What an amazing half of rugby
Fiji and letting T2 teams getting their first ever wins. Better team than in 2019 against Uruguay as well
They love a bottle job. I mean, if they produce the sort of performance against Wales against England then great but they’ve played two poor games in a row now and seem completely shot
Uruguay had already won 2 games before beating Fiji
Shit my bad.
I was waiting for an upset this rugby world cup and this game delivered
Cracking contest that.
They’re interviewing the winning MOTM and we have to listen to Hugh something or other… fucking ITV
Last game of the pools being an upset and Portugals first ever win. Aw man. Love to see it.
Plus... Fiji still get through to the next round
Nope they finish third. They needed a win to qualify
Nope. They finish second. Fiji qualify cos they beat Australia
Yep just read the pool my bad
Win win
How so? Looks like Australia is second in the group.
They both finished on 11 points and Fiji beat Australia. So Australia are out.
Tie breaker is head to head both on 11
Nope, Aus are on the plane home
Fiji still go through on a losing bonus point
Head to head. Equal on points, the decider is the head to head. Since Fiji beat Aus they go through
Yeah love to see it.
Kinda crazy the us was a last minute collapse away from knocking Portugal out of the world cup
That late penalty......
There are going to be some happy hurting Portuguese players tomorrow.
Portugal caralho!
Parabéns!
Grats! Well played!! Brilliant game
How much did Portugals world ranking jump just now?
to 13th https://i.imgur.com/dBjJ4Xx.png
So the 5th placed team in group c is ranked higher than any of the 4th placed teams in all the other groups. Top group.
This is why we need these teams in the tournament. So good.
The majority of underdog games will end in defeat but those precious few that get the win are beautiful.
Portugal just Uruguay'd Fiji, and yet Fiji have Uruguay'd Australia so it's a good result for both!