Portugal to play USA for place at Rugby World Cup 2023

Portugal and USA set up a Rugby World Cup 2023 Final Qualification Tournament decider after both teams made it two wins from two at The Sevens Stadium.

Os Lobos opened match-day two with a comfortable 85-0 win against Kenya, before the men’s Eagles beat Hong Kong 49-7 in Dubai on Saturday.

It means Portugal lead the standings on points difference but whoever wins the meeting between the two sides next Friday will secure the 20th and last remaining ticket to RWC 2023, and their place in Pool C where they will face Wales, Australia, Fiji and Georgia.

Hong Kong and Kenya both needed to win on Saturday to have any hope of qualifying for next year’s showpiece tournament in France, and now only third place will be on the line when they go head-to-head at The Sevens Stadium next week.

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Portugal too good for Kenya

Portugal dominated their contest with Kenya from start to finish, running in 13 tries to win 85-0 in the opening match at The Sevens Stadium.

It took Os Lobos less than a minute to breach the Kenyan defence as number eight Thibault de Freitas profited from a powerful driving lineout.

Scrum-half Samuel Marques converted, and he did the same in the seventh minute after Portugal hooker Mike Tadjer had dotted down at the end of another set-piece drive.

Brian Tanga thought he had got Kenya on the scoreboard in the 14th minute, but his try was ruled out due to an earlier knock-on.

The Simbas conceded a third try almost instantly, through Manuel Cardoso Pinto, and Portugal subsequently secured a try-scoring bonus point in the 22nd minute as José Lima went over.

With Kenya second-row Brian Juma in the sin-bin, Os Lobos added a fifth try before half-time when winger Vincent Pinto was the beneficiary of a smart lineout move. Marques maintained his 100 per cent record from the tee to make the score 35-0 at the break.

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Needing a victory to stay in contention for a place at RWC 2023, the task facing Kenya was already huge but got even bigger within a minute of the restart as Juma received a second yellow card and was subsequently sent off.

Portugal ran in five tries in the next 20 minutes as Tadjer, Vincent Pinto, captain Tomás Appleton (twice) and Jose Andrade all crossed the whitewash.

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Marques converted two, while Jéronimo Portela added another to give Os Lobos a 66-0 lead with a quarter of the match remaining.

Os Lobos crossed the whitewash on a further three occasions, through a penalty try, Joāo Belo and Lionel Campergue, their 13th and final score coming after Kenya had been reduced to 13 players, Geofrey Okwach sin-binned for a dangerous tackle.