RUGBY !!!

Sarà il Portogallo a sfidare l'Italia il 19 settembre a Parigi nella Pool C dei Campionati del mondo di Rugby Union che si terranno in Francia.
Nello spareggio qualificazione contro l'Uruguay, i Lusitani hanno avuto la meglio sui sudamericani.
Vittoria per 12-5 in Portogallo e sconfitta per 18-12 in Uruguay.
Gli Europei passano così per 24-23.
Nel test match giocato ad Ottobre a L'Aquila, l'Italia ha battuto il Portogallo per 83-0.

www.rugbyworldcup.com
Portugal make history to qualify for RWC 2007
Portugal’s remarkable Rugby World Cup 2007 qualification campaign has ended in joy as the Lobos hung on to complete a 24-23 aggregate victory over Uruguay in Montevideo to book a place at the finals for the first time.

Despite losing the second leg 18-12 Tomaz Morais’ team did enough to advance to Rugby World Cup 2007 in France in September and a place in Pool C alongside New Zealand, Scotland, Italy and Romania.

Defending a 12-5 lead after the first leg in Lisbon, Portugal faced a tough second leg against a Uruguayan outfit that had not lost two Rugby World Cup qualification matches in a row at home since 1993.

However, the visitors’ task was made significantly easier when after just two minutes of the match Uruguay lock Juan Bado was sent off for foul play, reducing the home side to 14 men. Despite the numerical disadvantage Uruguay quickly established a 6-0 lead through the boot of full back Juan Menchaca and centre Diego Aguirre.

After a slow start Portugal hit back and responded with two penalties in quick succession from prolific fly half Duarte Pinto. The remainder of the first half failed to spark though as both sides struggled to string phases together.

Locked at 6-6 at the interval, it was clear that something had to give in the second half and the home side kick-started the second period with an unconverted try by winger Martin Crosa after 42 minutes to open up a five point lead. However, Uruguay could not cut loose and Portugal pegged back the home side with a third Pinto penalty to reduce the arrears to just two points.

Portugal took the lead for the first time in the fiftieth minute with Pinto’s fourth successful penalty attempt and suddenly it appeared as though the visitors might record a historic victory on Uruguayan soil.

Uruguay, to their credit, failed to buckle and after a series of attacks close to the Portugal line hit back with a converted try through captain Rodrigo Capo after 64 minutes to recapture the lead and trail on aggregate by just one point.

The final minutes of the second half were frantic as Uruguay pressed for the score of any description that would extend the lead beyond the required seven points and seal a Rugby World Cup place for the second successive time.

Despite considerable pressure, the home side could not force a kickable penalty out of their opposition or find away over the try line and Portugal held on for a defeat which made history for the Portuguese Rugby.

Portugal’s qualification brings to a close the RWC 2007 qualification process which began when Andorra played Norway in September 2004. In total 86 countries have participated in 192 matches on the road to France 2007.

Uruguay: 15 Juan Menchaca, 14 Juan Labat, 13 Diego Aguirre, 12 Joaquin Pastore, 11 Martin Crosa, 10 Sebastian Aguirre, 9 Juan Campomar, 8 Nicolas Brignoni, 7 Nicolas Grille, 6 Alfredo Giuria, 5 Rodrigo Capo, 4 Juan Bado, 3 Pablo Lemoine, 2 Juan Andres Perez, 1 Rodrigo Sanchez
Replacements: 16 Guillermo Storace, 17 Federico Capo, 18 Carlos Arboleya, 19 Juan Miguel Alvarez, 20 Rafael Alvarez, 21 Juan Martín Llovet, 22 Nicolas Morales

Coaches: Nicolas Inciarte, Mario Lame

Portugal: 15 Pedro Leal, 14 Diogo Gama, 13 Miguel Portela, 12 Diogo Mateus, 11 Pedro Carvalho, 10 Duarte Pinto, 9 Luis Pissarra, 8 Vasco Uva, 7 Joao Uva, 6 Juan Serveriño, 5 Marcelo Dorey, 4 Gonzalo Uva, 3 Joaquin Ferreira, 2 Joao Correta, 1 André Lourenzo
Replacements: 16 Rui Cordeiro, 17 Duarte Figueredo, 18 David Penalva, 19 Diogo Coutinho, 20 Paulo Murinello, 21 Jose Pinto, 22 Goncalo Malheiro

Coach: Tomaz Morais

Scoring sequence, Uruguay first

3-0 – Menchaca pen (9 mins)
6-0 – Aguirre pen (19 mins)
6-3 – Pinto pen (21 mins)
6-6 – Pinto pen (27 mins)
Half Time
11-6 – Crosa try (42 mins)
11-9 – Pinto pen (46 mins)
11-12 – Pinto pen (50 mins)
18-12 – R Capo try, Menchaca con (64 mins)

Sent off: Bado, Uruguay (2 mins)