Portugal advances to RWC 2023 amid new fixtures and historical conflictsPosted by Xchange Tickets on December 3rd, 2022 After winning the Final Qualification Tournament in Dubai and securing a spot in Pool C following Friday's 16-point draw with the USA, Os Lobos will participate in their second tournament in ten months. RWC fans can buy Rugby World Cup 2023 Tickets from our website. Since none of the Os Lobos class of 2007 is still playing professionally, Portugal's participation in Rugby World Cup 2023 will be their first international competition. However, assistant coach Luis Pissarra, a veteran of their only appearance 15 years ago, will have provided the current players with numerous accounts of what it's like to play on the game's grandest stage. They will also have the opportunity to see it in action on September 16, 2023, when Portugal takes on Wales in the opening match of the tournament in Nice. Portugal has never played Wales in a professional game; the only time they did so was in 1994 in Lisbon, when Wales defeated them 102-11. It was Portugal's third-worst defeat, after a 108-13 loss to the All Blacks and a 92-0 loss to Romania at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The Portuguese team that Nigel Walker, WRU Performance Director, and Ieuan Evans, a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame, ransacked on that day is only a shadow of the team that will enter Rugby World Cup 2023 as one of Europe's most exciting teams. enticing draw: Georgia, Portugal's second opponent, is more familiar to Portugal due to their regular participation in the Rugby Europe Championship. Since 1997, when 24 meetings were held simultaneously, it has been a fixture. Portugal started well, winning four of the first seven games. However, they hadn't won since their last victory in 2005. Operating system In their 17 previous encounters with the Lelos, the Lobos have failed to win. However, three of those have been decided, the most recent of which occurred toward the beginning of the Rugby Europe Title this year. Os Lobos held their hosts to a 25-25 draw, ending Georgia's 20-match winning streak in the competition. Portugal's performance that day in Tbilisi will give them a lot of confidence when they meet again on September 23 in Toulouse, even though they were unable to take advantage of that result and secure an automatic spot in the tournament. Portugal might play Georgia before then, but only if the two teams draw in the semifinals or final of the new Rugby Europe Championship and advance to the knockout stages. On Sunday, October 1, Portugal will play Australia for the first time in their history at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard in Saint-Étienne. A week later, Portugal will finish playing Fiji in Toulouse in Pool C. In their previous encounters with Fiji, Portugal defeated Os Lobos, but they were not disgraced in either of their matches in Lisbon. Fiji improved on their score in the first game, which they won in 2005 with a score of 26-17, by 36-13 in the second game, which they won in 2013. Francisco Appleton, the brother of Portugal's current captain Tomás Appleton, was on the bench during the final match. They will receive support from every venue, regardless of the outcome, thanks to their entertaining brand of rugby, the legendary Les Bleus coach Patrice Lagisquet, and the one million Portuguese living in France. Scotland moved up three places to sixth in the World Rugby Men's Rankings powered by Capgemini. Another dramatic weekend of test rugby that changed the course of history followed another fantastic weekend of play in the Autumn Nations Series. Stories like Georgia's shocking victory over Wales in Cardiff, Scotland's chaotic match against Argentina, England's dramatic comeback against New Zealand, and France finishing the year undefeated reinforced rugby's reputation as a sport that constantly rewrites its scripts. With their 52-29 victory over a Los Pumas team that received three yellow cards and one red, Scotland moved up to sixth place in the World Rugby Men's Rankings powered by Capgemini. Despite losing two players to the sin bin, Scotland scored their highest score ever against the South Americans. They are now the higher-ranked team, with Los Pumas dropping to ninth. The home team's Finn Russell was in superb form, scoring six of the eight tries. Darcy Graham became the first player from Scotland to score a hat trick in the match against Argentina, and Sione Tuipulotu scored his first test try by crossing twice before getting a yellow card at the end of the game. The raucous Murrayfield crowd enjoyed the point’s competition. GEORGIA Stagger Wales As Ridges suffered their first defeat against the Lelos, a 13-12 loss to Georgia, the mood in Cardiff was significantly more solemn. When Australia visits the Principality Stadium on Saturday, Wales still has a chance to finish the year on a high. Be that as it may, they will be positioned 10th, one spot underneath Australia, in the wake of falling two spots. Georgia moved up to 13th place and replaced Fiji with their first victory over Wales at the fourth attempt, earning them a two-point rating boost. There was no growth above Scotland; the main five countries were Britain, Ireland, France, New Zealand, and South Africa. Because of the huge focus differential between the groups, Ireland and France got no extra focus for their triumphs over Australia and Japan before the home benefit was considered. However, for their 63-21 victory over Italy in Genoa, the Springboks were compensated with 0.20 points. After England overcame a 25-6 deficit to draw with New Zealand 25-25, their rating increased by 0.17 a point. PACIFIC HEIGHTS IN BUCHAREST Samoa has moved up to 11th place thanks to their 22-0 victory over Romania, in which they scored all of their points in the first half. The main event between Tonga and Uruguay also ended in a convincing 43-19 victory for the Pacific Islanders in Bucharest. Even though Tonga remains in 15th place, they are only 3.63 points and one place behind Fiji. At the beginning of the month, the gap was 7.29 points, and Fiji was ranked four places higher. Uruguay has dropped 1.07 points to drop to 17th, one spot below Spain. For rugby in North America, the weekend was extremely disappointing. After a 16-16 draw, the USA was eliminated from the Rugby World Cup in 2023, and Portugal and Canada lost to Namibia 43-37. Canada dropped to 23rd place, replacing Namibia, even though the draw had no significant effect on the USA's score or position. World Rugby Main Rankings Important List:
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