The first sentence of the Portuguese national anthem, In Portuguese (“Portuguese”) is displayed. On the front page of the newspaper In Pula, Monday 9 OctoberBut modified slightly for the occasion: “Heroes of the sea, noble wolves.” – In a place “Noble people” -, reads the headline of the three most widely read daily sports newspapers in the country. The previous day, Portuguese rugby players achieved the feat with a win “First World Cup win” Against Fiji (24-23) in Toulouse.
Very rarely, it is not football news that dominates the front page ofIn PulaBut rugby. The fate of the match was decided in the last moments, with a final attempt from winger Rodrigo Marta in the 78th minute.H minute. The newspaper chose a photo of young fly-half Jeronimo Portela happily in the arms of David Costa. The two internationals are also teammates at Club JD Direto, an amateur team from Lisbon. Jerónimo Portela’s father, Miguel Portela, himself participated in Portugal’s first Rugby World Cup in 2007, which was actually organized in France.
In summary, one of the newspaper’s directors, Alexandre Pereira, assesses what the Portuguese squad, the last surprise guest of the World Cup and half of which is made up of amateurs, has achieved: “October 8, 2023 will remain forever engraved in the history of Portuguese sports. In Toulouse, the noble Wolves team exited the Rugby World Cup in the group stage, of course, but by defeating with dignity one of the eight teams that will compete in the quarter-finals of the competition.
The Fijians will actually face the English on 15 October. For their part, the Portuguese dazzled their fans throughout the tournament, presenting many matches “arousing”especially against Georgia (18-18), the eternal rival, which I finally overtook in the rankings, or against Australia (34-14).
And they also delivered “The best farewell performance in history for Patrice Laguesquet.”Confirms In Pula. The Frenchman, who became Wolverhampton coach in 2019 with the aim of qualifying for the World Cup, announced that he would leave his position. The former assistant coach of the French XV national team (2012-2015) contributed greatly to the development of Portuguese rugby. And perhaps we will birth a new rugby nation in a country where football crushes everything again.
