Portugal national rugby union team

Portugal played its first ever rugby international in April 1935 against Spain, losing by a single point, 6–5. They played Spain again the following year with Spain winning 16–9. Portugal had more regular competition from the mid-1960s, and won their first game in 1966, defeating Spain 9–3. Portugal played Italy for the first time in 1967, losing 6–3. They also had their first match against Romania soon after and lost by 40 points. They defeated Belgium in 1968, and also played Morocco for the first time.

The first game of the 1970s was a draw against the Netherlands. Portugal managed to draw with Italy (nil all) in 1972 and following that, defeated them 9–6 in 1973. After a number of mixed results throughout the early 1970s, Portugal won five matches in a row from 1979 through to 1981. They played Morocco, who won the encounter. After a 1983 draw against Spain, Portugal managed a seven-game winning streak from 1984 to 1985, including wins over Belgium, Denmark, Morocco, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Zimbabwe. The first Rugby World Cup was held in 1987, though it was by invitation, thus there was no qualifying tournament and Portugal did not participate.

From 1989 to 1990, the 1991 World Cup qualifiers were held for the European nations. Portugal started in Round 2b in October 1989. They defeated Czechoslovakia 15 to 13 in Ricant to advance to Round 2c. However here they were defeated by the Netherlands 32–3 and eliminated from qualifying.

Portugal again participated in the 1995 World Cup qualifying competition for European teams, starting in Round 1. They were pooled in the West Group, and defeated Belgium and Switzerland, but lost to Spain, advancing into Round 2. Here Wales defeated them, and they lost to Spain.

Portugal began in Pool 3 of Round B in the European qualifying competition for the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Portugal won all their group matches, except for the one against Spain, and still finished second in the group, which took them into Pool 3 of Round C. All games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland. Portugal lost 85–11 to Scotland, and 21–17 to Spain. Both Scotland and Spain went through to the World Cup; Portugal went into repechage, where Portugal lost a home and away series to Uruguay.

In 2002, Portugal began playing for a place in the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Pool A of Round 3 of the European qualifying tournament. They were grouped with Spain and Poland. Each nation only won one game, though on for and against Portugal finished second to Spain. Portugal were knocked out of competition. In 2003–04, Portugal won the European Nations Cup, losing only one match to win their first championship. In 2004, Professor Tomaz Morais, coach of the Portugal national team at both sevens and fifteen a side, was nominated for the IRB's coach of the year award. This was a remarkable achievement for a coach from a third tier rugby nation. Morais has been credited with much of Portugal's progress in recent years.

In 2006, it was announced that Portugal would receive a grant from the IRB to help develop their rugby to Tier 2 standard. Few details were released regarding how the money was spent, but it was hoped it would ensure that Portugal's rugby would be able to move onto the next level. In 2006, the inaugural IRB Nations Cup was hosted in Lisbon. The tournament featured Portugal, Russia, Argentina A and Italy A.

Portugal (in red) playing Italy

Portugal began their qualification campaign for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in 2004, as part of the European Nations Cup Division 1 2004–06 tournament. They won their first match, defeating Ukraine 6–36. They then defeated Georgia 18–14 in their second match, won their third match against the Czech Republic, defeated Russia as well, but then lost to Romania. Portugal then drew with Russia 19-all and lost to Georgia. After a loss to Romania and a win against the Czech Republic, Portugal finished third overall in the standings, and qualified for Round 5.

Round 5 was played in October 2006 as a three match series between Italy, Russia and Portugal. Both Portugal and Russia lost heavily in their matches against Italy, who easily qualified for the finals. Second place came down to the final match of the round in Lisbon. Portugal won the match 26–23 against Russia to make it to Round 6. Round 6 was a home and away series against the Round 5 Pool B winners, Georgia. Portugal lost the first match, but drew 11-all in the second meeting. Georgia went through to the finals, and Portugal entered the repechage round where they defeated Morocco 26–20 on aggregate.

Portugal then faced Uruguay for the last position in the finals. In the first leg of the two-match Repechage series, Portugal won 12–5. In the second game in Montevideo Portugal lost 18–12. On aggregate, Portugal won 24–23, sending them to their first ever World Cup. Having qualified for their first World Cup, several players were subsequently arrested in the ensuing celebrations as a result of an altercation with local police. No charges were laid and the players involved were allowed to leave Uruguay.

In the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Portugal went to Pool C, alongside favourites the All Blacks, Italy, Romania and Scotland. Portugal's highlights included preventing Italy getting a bonus point, scoring a try against the All Blacks, and coming within a try of beating Romania before losing 14–10. They also managed to score in all the four games, unlike Scotland and Romania. The Portugal team were celebrated for their commitment and passion, and for being the only amateur team to make it to the World Cup.

After the World Cup, Portugal faced some problems, including the end of the club and international careers of several key players, like Joaquim Ferreira, Paulo Murinello, Samuel Belo and Rui Cordeiro, and achieved only one win over Czech Republic in the final round of the European Nations Cup tournament, finishing in 5th place, their worst result since 2002.

On 1 November 2008, they lost at home against Canada 21–13 in a friendly game.[1] After a disappointing campaign under Tomaz Morais in the 2006-08 edition of the Six Nations B, that would qualify for the 2011 Rugby World Cup finals, Murray Henderson was assigned as Specialist Forward coach.

Portugal missed the second presence at the Rugby World Cup finals, after two surprising losses at home with Georgia (10–16) and Romania (9–20), which the "Lobos" had previously defeated 22–21 abroad. Portugal thus missed the 3rd place that would have granted access to the Rugby World Cup repechage.

Tomaz Morais was replaced by New Zealand coach Errol Brain, in October 2010, with a three years contract. He had mixed results, starting with strong performances but ended up with disappointing games. He was replaced by Frederico Sousa in October 2013.

Portugal lost to Germany in the 2015–16 European Nations Cup Division 1A, finishing last, resulting in relegation for the following year.

After Portugal got relegated to the 2016–17 Rugby Europe Trophy, Portugal went on to win the tournament 3 times in a row until the 2018-19 season, when they were granted promotion to the Rugby Europe Championship. Since then, Portugal have been quite successful in the competition. In the 2020-21 season, they finished 3rd place in a league system and in the 2022-23 season, they finished 1st place in a group with Romania, Poland and Belgium, which led them to a semi-final with Spain, which they won (27-10), going all the way to the final in Badajoz, which they unfortunately lost to Georgia (38-11).

Portugal qualified for the 2023 Rugby World Cup through the repechage tournament held in Dubai, beating Hong Kong, Kenya and drawing with the USA (16-16) on the last game, winning the repechage tournament on point difference.

They had a successful tournament, coming 4th in Pool C. They drew 18-18 with Georgia and pulled off a shock upset by beating Fiji 24-23. After the tournament, their world ranking was 13th, the highest they had ever been.

ENC champions

Season	Division	Head Coach	Captain	G	W	D	L	PF	PA	+/−	Pts	Pos
2000	Championship	Evan Crawford		5	2	0	3	74	100	–26	9	5th
2001	Championship	Evan Crawford		5	1	0	4	77	165	–88	7	5th
2002	Championship	Tomaz Morais	Rohan Hoffmann	5	2	0	3	93	130	–37	9	4th
2003	Championship	Tomaz Morais	Luís Pissarra	5	5	0	0	153	85	+68	15	1st
2004	Championship	Tomaz Morais	Luís Pissarra	5	4	0	1	92	95	-3	13	2nd
2005	Championship	Tomaz Morais	Luís Pissarra	5	4	0	1	101	73	+28	13	3rd
2006	Championship	Tomaz Morais	Vasco Uva	5	2	1	2	92	100	-8	10	4th
2007	Championship	Tomaz Morais	Vasco Uva	5	2	0	3	58	96	–38	9	4th
2008	Championship	Tomaz Morais	João Correia	5	1	0	4	116	100	+16	7	5th
2009	Championship	Tomaz Morais	João Correia	5	3	1	1	124	84	+40	12	3rd
2010	Championship	Tomaz Morais	João Correia	5	2	0	3	131	65	+66	9	4th
2011	Championship	Errol Brain	João Correia	5	3	0	2	113	98	+15	14	3rd
2012	Championship	Errol Brain	Gonçalo Uva	5	1	0	4	102	132	–30	7	5th
2013	Championship	Errol Brain	João Correia	5	1	1	3	75	96	–21	7	4th
2014	Championship	Frederico Sousa	João Correia	5	1	0	4	70	126	–56	5	5th
2015	Championship	João Luís Pinto	Vasco Uva	5	1	0	4	52	100	–48	5	5th
2016	Championship	Ian Smith	Francisco Pinto Magalhães	5	0	0	5	72	210	–138	1	6th*
2017	Trophy	Martim Aguiar	Francisco Pinto Magalhães	5	5	0	0	179	37	+142	25	1st
2018	Trophy	Martim Aguiar	João Lino	5	5	0	0	168	76	+92	23	1st
2019	Trophy	Martim Aguiar	Salvador Vassalo	5	5	0	0	272	31	+242	25	1st
2020	Championship	Patrice Lagisquet	Tomás Appleton	5	2	0	3	98	111	-13	9	4th
2021	Championship	Patrice Lagisquet	Tomás Appleton	5	3	0	2	196	139	+57	14	3rd
2022	Championship	Patrice Lagisquet	Tomás Appleton	5	2	1	2	139	98	+41	12	4th
2023	Championship	Patrice Lagisquet	Tomás Appleton	5	4	0	1	195	88	+107	19	2nd

Notes: Portugal's last place finish in the 2014–16 European Nations Cup First Division resulted in their relegation to 2016–17 Rugby Europe Trophy in the following year.

Men's World Rugby Rankings Top 30 as of 23 October 2023[2]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		South Africa	092.79
2		New Zealand	091.56
3		Ireland	090.57
4		France	087.81
5		England	083.72
6		Scotland	083.43
7		Argentina	082.42
8		Wales	080.64
9		Australia	077.48
10		Fiji	076.38
11		Italy	075.93
12		Japan	074.27
13		Portugal	072.78
14		Georgia	072.68
15		Samoa	072.23
16		Tonga	071.57
17		Uruguay	067.39
18		United States	066.22
19		Spain	064.05
20		Romania	063.28
21		Namibia	060.56
22		Chile	060.49
23		Canada	060.46
24		Hong Kong	059.80
25		Russia	058.06
26		Brazil	056.35
27		Netherlands	055.84
28		Switzerland	055.72
29		Belgium	054.58
30		South Korea	053.46
* Change from the previous week
Portugal's historical rankings
See or edit source data.
Source: World Rugby[2] Graph updated to 23 October 2023

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Portugal national XV at test level up until 8 October 2023:[3][4][5]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	% Won
Andorra	3	3	0	0	100%
Argentina XV	5	1	4	0	20%
Australia	1	0	1	0	0%
Australia A	1	0	1	0	0%
Barbarians	1	0	1	0	0%
Belgium	16	11	3	2	68.75%
Brazil	6	4	0	2	66.67%
Canada	5	1	4	0	20%
Chile	4	4	0	0	100%
Czech Republic	12	12	0	0	100%
Czechoslovakia	2	2	0	0	100%
Denmark	2	2	0	0	100%
England Saxons	1	0	1	0	0%
Fiji	3	1	2	0	33.33%
France A	3	0	3	0	0%
Georgia	26	4	18	4	15.38%
Germany	9	6	3	0	66.67%
Hong Kong	3	2	1	0	66.67%
Italy	13	1	11	1	7.69%
Italy A	2	0	1	1	0%
Japan	1	0	1	0	0%
Japan XV	1	0	1	0	0%
Kenya	3	2	1	0	66.67%
Lithuania	1	1	0	0	100%
Moldova	2	2	0	0	100%
Morocco	14	7	5	2	50%
Namibia	8	2	6	0	25%
Netherlands	17	13	3	1	76.47%
New Zealand	1	0	1	0	0%
Poland	11	8	3	0	72.73%
Romania	28	4	24	0	14.29%
Russia	21	6	14	1	28.57%
Scotland	1	0	1	0	0%
Scotland A	1	0	1	0	0%
Spain	41	12	27	2	29.27%
South Africa Amateurs	1	0	1	0	0%
Soviet Union	2	0	2	0	0%
Sweden	2	2	0	0	100%
Switzerland	7	7	0	0	100%
Tonga	1	0	1	0	0%
Tunisia	9	3	6	0	33.33%
Ukraine	5	4	1	0	80%
United States	5	1	2	2	20%
Uruguay	10	3	7	0	30%
Yugoslavia	3	2	0	1	66.67%
Wales	2	0	2	0	0%
West Germany	3	1	2	0	33.33%
Zimbabwe	4	2	2	0	50%
Total[n 1]	323	136	168	19	42.11%

On 28 August, Portugal named their 33-player squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.[6]

Head Coach: Patrice Lagisquet

• Caps Updated: 28 August 2023

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Lionel Campergue	Hooker	(1987-11-24) 24 November 1987	21	Bassin d'Arcachon
Duarte Diniz	Hooker	(1995-11-08) 8 November 1995	35	Direito
Mike Tadjer	Hooker	(1989-03-10) 10 March 1989	32	Perpignan
Anthony Alves	Prop	(1989-06-23) 23 June 1989	31	Mont-de-Marsan
Francisco Bruno	Prop	(1995-05-28) 28 May 1995	24	Direito
David Costa	Prop	(1999-07-05) 5 July 1999	25	Direito
Francisco Fernandes	Prop	(1985-09-06) 6 September 1985	44	Béziers
Diogo Hasse Ferreira	Prop	(1996-10-17) 17 October 1996	37	Dax
António Machado Santos	Prop	(1998-06-09) 9 June 1998	2	Belenenses
Martim Bello	Lock	(2000-09-27) 27 September 2000	6	Cascais
Steevy Cerqueira	Lock	(1993-08-09) 9 August 1993	12	Chambéry
José Madeira	Lock	(2001-03-19) 19 March 2001	32	Grenoble
Duarte Torgal	Lock	(1997-12-23) 23 December 1997	19	Direito
Thibault de Freitas	Back row	(1992-01-08) 8 January 1992	31	Floirac
João Granate	Back row	(1997-02-21) 21 February 1997	31	Direito
Nicolas Martins	Back row	(1999-01-18) 18 January 1999	8	Soyaux Angoulême
Manuel Picão	Back row	(1997-04-10) 10 April 1997	21	Direito
Rafael Simões	Back row	(1991-06-20) 20 June 1991	27	CDUL
David Wallis	Back row	(1997-04-17) 17 April 1997	20	Belenenses
João Bello	Scrum-half	(1995-08-02) 2 August 1995	25	CDUP
Pedro Lucas	Scrum-half	(2000-10-16) 16 October 2000	17	Técnico
Samuel Marques	Scrum-half	(1988-12-08) 8 December 1988	22	Béziers
Joris Moura	Fly-half	(2000-05-07) 7 May 2000	1	Valence Romans
Jerónimo Portela	Fly-half	(2000-11-02) 2 November 2000	25	Direito
Tomás Appleton (c)	Centre	(1993-07-29) 29 July 1993	62	CDUL
Pedro Bettencourt	Centre	(1994-11-18) 18 November 1994	30	Oyonnax
José Lima	Centre	(1992-04-24) 24 April 1992	55	Narbonne
Rodrigo Marta	Wing	(1999-11-18) 18 November 1999	31	Colomiers
Vincent Pinto	Wing	(1999-04-10) 10 April 1999	14	Colomiers
Manuel Cardoso Pinto	Wing	(1998-04-07) 7 April 1998	30	Agronomia
Raffaele Storti	Wing	(2000-12-19) 19 December 2000	21	Béziers
Simão Bento	Fullback	(2001-06-21) 21 June 2001	11	Mont-de-Marsan
Nuno Sousa Guedes	Fullback	(1994-11-21) 21 November 1994	38	CDUP

Gonçalo Uva and Vasco Uva are the most capped players for Portugal (both 101) and Gonçalo Uva also has the record for most matches in the starting XV (95).[7][8] The highest scorer for Portugal is Gonçalo Malheiro, with 279 points.[9] Malheiro is also the player with the most drop goals (12) and penalty goals (51).[10][11] Pedro Leal holds the record for most conversions (45).[12] Rodrigo Marta with 27 tries is the player with the most tries scored.[13] Duarte Pinto has the record for most matches as a substitute, with 23 substitutions.[14] Bernardo Duarte holds the record for most matches as a substitute, without ever playing in the starting XV (14).[14]

The current coaching staff of the Portuguese national team:

Name	Nationality	Role
Fernando Murteira	POR	Manager
Sébastien Bertrank	FRA	Head coach
Hervé Durquety	FRA	Assistant coach
João Mirra	POR	Assistant coach
Luís Pissarra	POR	Assistant coach
Michaël Dallery	ESP	Strength & conditioning coach
Lino Rebolo	POR	Strength & conditioning coach
António Cruz-Ferreira	POR	Team doctor
José Carlos Rodrigues	POR	Physiotherapist
Jan Pieter	NED	Physiotherapist
José Paixão	POR	Video analyst

Name	Years	Tests	Won	Drew	Lost	Win percentage	Source
Pedro Lynce	1976-1983	10	6	0	4	60%	[15]
João Paulo Bessa	1983-1986	17	9	1	7	52.94%	[16]
Vasco Lynce	1986-1989	15	4	1	10	26.67%	[17]
Olegário Borges	1989-1993	14	7	0	7	50%	[18]
Andrew Cushing	1993–1994	12	2	0	10	16.67%	[19]
João Paulo Bessa	1994–1999	25	12	1	12	48%	[20]
Evan Crawford	1999–2001	11	3	0	8	27.27%	[21]
Tomaz Morais	2001–2010	76	33	4	39	43.42%	[22]
Errol Brain	2010–2013	26	9	1	16	34.62%	[23]
Frederico Sousa	2013–2014	8	2	0	6	25%	[24]
João Luís Pinto	2014–2015	7	2	0	5	28.57%	[25]
Olivier Baragnon	2015–2016	3	1	0	2	33.33%	[26]
Ian Smith	2016-2016	5	0	0	5	0%	[27]
Martim Aguiar	2016–2019	23	18	0	5	78.26%	[28]
Patrice Lagisquet	2019–2023	37	18	3	16	48.65%	[29]
Sébastien Bertrank	2023-	0	0	0	0	0%	[30]

Last updated: 12 October 2023.

Last updated: Fiji vs Portugal, 8 October 2023. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Last updated: Fiji vs Portugal, 8 October 2023. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Last updated: Fiji vs Portugal, 8 October 2023. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1	Thierry Teixeira	Fly-half	30	0	0	9	1	Georgia	Lisbon	08/02/2000
2	José Rodrigues	Fly-Half	26	2	2	4	0	Switzerland	Setúbal	24/02/2018
3	Gonçalo Malheiro	Fullback	25	0	2	5	2	Spain	Coimbra	23/03/2003
	Jorge Abecasis	Fly-half	25	0	5	5	0	Poland	Setúbal	16/02/2019
	Raffaele Storti	Wing	25	5	0	0	0	Netherlands	Amsterdam	10/07/2021
6	Gonçalo Malheiro	Fullback	24	2	1	4	0	Czech Republic	Lisbon	08/03/2003
7	Pedro Leal	Fly-half	23	0	1	7	0	Chile	Santiago	17/11/2012
8	Pedro Cabral	Fullback	22	1	4	0	3	Czech Republic	Lisbon	16/02/2008
	Manuel Marta	Fullback	22	2	6	0	0	Czech Republic	Caldas da Rainha	23/03/2019
10	Gonçalo Malheiro	Fly-half	21	3	3	0	0	Barbarians	Lisbon	10/06/2004

Last updated: Fiji vs Portugal, 8 October 2023. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1	Raffaele Storti	Wing	25	5	0	0	0	Netherlands	Amsterdam	10/07/2021
2	Rodrigo Marta	Wing	20	4	0	0	0	Poland	Warsaw	11/02/2023
	Vincent Pinto	Wing	20	4	0	0	0	Poland	Warsaw	11/02/2023
4	Nuno Garvão	Wing	15	3	0	0	0	Spain	Ibiza	21/03/2004
	Gonçalo Malheiro	Fly-half	21	3	3	0	0	Barbarians	Lisbon	10/06/2004
	Gonçalo Foro	Wing	15	3	0	0	0	Germany	Heusenstamm	27/02/2010
	Caetano Castelo Branco	Wing	15	3	0	0	0	Czech Republic	Caldas da Rainha	23/03/2019
	Antonio Vidinha	Centre	15	3	0	0	0	Czech Republic	Caldas da Rainha	23/03/2019
	Rodrigo Marta	Wing	15	3	0	0	0	Netherlands	Amsterdam	10/07/2021
	Mike Tadjer	Hooker	15	3	0	0	0	Kenya	Dubai	12/11/2022

Last updated: Fiji vs Portugal, 8 October 2023. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Last updated: Fiji vs Portugal, 8 October 2023. Statistics include officially capped matches only.