Canada 42 – 12 Portugal

Having read Red-Terror’s post about the Canada vs. Portugal match in Ottawa, and  actually being there visiting the missus in the course of my global wanderings, I thought I might try and persuade her to accompany me to the game.  Of course, once off the fern I promptly forgot about it.

Getting up that Saturday at midday (thankfully with no hangover – we were out at a wedding the night before) we discussed the plans for our day and taffyjoe remembers the rugby,

“Hey darling, do you remember saying that you would watch the game with me?”
“What game?”  Said suspicious girlfriend
“Last night you said it was fine.”  Said with an air of unconvincing innocence.
“That what was fine?”  Said girlfriend, now giving me a hard look
“That we could go to the rugby game dear.”
“I’m sure my parents need the car.”
“We don’t till 6” shouted her mother (bless her)

With that we scrambled (it now being 1:15 and KO at 2).  Having tracked down the location of the pitch (somewhere in rural Ontario, and there is a lot of rural Ontario) we arrived.  Twin Elm is a pretty pitch, which is lucky because that’s all that’s there, 1 stand, 1 pitch and 2 grain silo’s.  From Eden park to this (I had promised myself that I would see as many rugby games as possible on my travels, but never expected to find test match rugby in a farmers field, even a well maintained one).

We just made kick off and the first thing that hit me was that Portugal looked like a club side, the number 3 especially (Cristian Spacuhk) appeared a little on the portly side.  Arrayed against them was a Canada side that looked big, lean and fit, like a proper international side.  I wasn’t the only one to have noticed as the two blokes sitting next to me were discussing it too.

Having missed the anthems (probably a blessing given the dirge that is ‘O Canada’), and noted that the Portuguese were playing into a strong breeze they kicked off.  The Canadian’s reveled their game plan immediately by picking and driving round the fringes, quickly drawing a penalty from Referee Christophe Berdos (French, although this didn’t stop him having an excellent game) for offside.  The Canucks chose to scrum and the Portuguese creaked, with the loose head (Juan Murre) attempting to bore in on the Canadian hooker.  The tight head (Jon Thiel) countered, dropping his shoulder to unsettle Murre and wheeling the scrum for the 8 (Sean Michael) to pick up and run over the 9 (Luis Pissarra) before being pulled down.  Quick recycling and a good line from the Canadian 15 (Mike Pyke – a lanky bugger) saw them over.  The missed conversion set the tone, with the Canuck’s place kicking average with some excellent kicking out of hand, the exact opposite to the Portuguese.

The first half continued in similar vein, the Canadian’s attempting to squeeze the Portuguese in the forwards, who, to their credit hold up pretty well, with No.5 (Juan Severino – who would be my Portuguese standout player) especially proving a handful at the lineouts.  Once the green No. 1 was replaced by 17 (Joao Correia – who can join the list of props needing hair removal treatment) the scrum held up fine too.  Unfortunately for the Portuguese they couldn’t gain any momentum with the Canadian’s keeping them on the back foot and recycling well, with their 8 and 6 (Jamie Cudmore) proving able and consistent ball carriers.  Unfortunately for the Canadian’s they couldn’t get the accuracy required at crucial points, with sloppy passes and bad decisions squandering some promising field position as they tried to get their back’s going.

The only highlight for the Portuguese in the first half was an intercept try from their hard working 12 (Diogo Mateus who reminded me of a smaller Scott Gibbs), who had the gas to run it in from the half way line.  Half time came with Canada up 20 – 7, with two more tries, one from a well worked drive from a 5m lineout, and one from a blindside move with the wing beating his man to the corner.

The second half suggested that most of Canada’s problems came from rustiness as they opened up at a blistering pace.  They kicked a penalty before setting up a series of drives to the right-hand corner that sucked in defenders, before James Pritchard (11) threw a lovely pass across the middle of the park.  This cut out two Canadian runners and most of the Portuguese rush defence for DTH van der Merwe (No. 14 and hot contender for the rugby player with the most names) to run in on a great angle.  Canada then struggled for rhythm as Portugal fronted up led by the impressive Juan Severino (No. 5) who put in a series of big hits before being dumped later in the game himself when receiving a hospital pass.  To give credit to him the Canadian player hadn’t even got up before being congratulated and patted on the back by the big man.

It then started coming together for Canada, with a couple of slick moves in the middle of the pitch opening up the Portuguese at pace before the defence was penalised for accidental offside.  The scrum half took a quick tap and offloaded to centre David Spicer who went over with Portuguese players hanging off him from all angles.  From the re-start, Canada broke-out on the nearside touchline with some great interchange in the backs for replacement winger (No. 22 Mensah-Coker) to go over. 

At this point (42 - 7 at 63 mins) it appeared as if an avalanche of tries was going to hit, but to Portugal’s credit they gamely stepped up.  They held on to the ball, recycling and carving out several chances, one move running out of room on the near side having tried to force their way over under posts moments earlier.  Another good chance came and went with an intelligent grubber kick from replacement fly-half (No 21 Duarte Pinto) bouncing awkwardly for No. 11 (Pedro Carvalho) 1m out from the line before they got a well deserved consolation score, with No. 20 Jose Pinto going over in the corner.

Overall it was a brave effort from the Portuguese, who attempted to play some good rugby but were unable to secure enough ball to get a quick set of backs in play.  They held up well in the set pieces but couldn’t compete round the park against a larger and more mobile Canadian Pack.

The Canadians were a decent outfit that reflects the rise of rugby in Canada; they have the beginnings of a Professional League on the East Coast and (apparently) a popular Women’s League that stretches down to Washington State in the US.  They were well drilled but looked like they needed game time.

Either teams chances in the World Cup?

Well, Portugal aren’t going to cause any upset’s but given the resilience they showed in this game I would be surprised if New Zealand Posted a world record score against them, they would have to play badly and New Zealand better than they have this year to do that.  Saying that, the All Black’s won’t have to stretch themselves to overcome them, but if Portugal get some ball, then they may win some fans with their enterprising brand of rugby that they showed in the second half of this game.

Canada, now with their European players, could provide a shock upset.  They have a decent pack and a few good backs; especially impressive was No’s 6, 8 and 11 (who wandered of his wing to fill in at 10 and 12 often and to good effect).  No sleeping for either Wales or Australia in their matches against the Maple Leaves.

Hope you enjoyed this, I certainly enjoyed the game (and so did the girlfriend in the end).

Joe

PS. Full kudos to the IRB for organising Portugal’s Tour of Canada, them and their (vocal) supporters looked to be having a great time.