I’m writing my match review at half time between the All Blacks and Portugal - and with the 45 points on the board so far, I may as well have written it last week.
Honestly what a waste of time it was for the All Blacks to play Portugal. I expect us to get around 90-100 points by the end of the game, but it doesn’t really matter.
This game can only harm the All Blacks and Portugal.
It will harm the All Blacks, because (just like the All Blacks v Italy game) it’s provided us pathetic, weak competition leading into the bigger games. We want to be match hardened not match softened! Hopefully we don’t sustain any injuries in this outing.
As for Portugal, this will not aid in the development as a rugby nation at all. They are better of out of this tournament and playing against teams that will won’t hammer them like the All Blacks. The only good thing they will get out of this is an All Blacks jumper at the end of the game.
47 comments ↓
First, I would like to tell you taht I’m portuguese.
Second, I would like to tell you that I’m very proud of our national team (do you know that they only have a couple of pros and the rest are amateurs?).
Third, I think you should think a little before writing and publishing this kind of opinions. If teams like Portugal don’t play against better teams how are they going to learn and improve their game?
Fourth, if you exclude teams from the competition it wouldn’t be a World Cup.
Fifth, do you also defend that Football World Cup should only be played by Europeans and South Americans?
PS - Sorry about the 13 points from the amateur team, next time we will try not to score.
First and foremost where is the review? Seems more like a biased opinion than a review of the game.
I’m a kiwi and of course love watching the Allblacks play.
However I thought Portugal were awesome..with the right training and focus I think they could be pretty dangerous. The passion is there and the hunger.
Hardened matches they will come, this wouldn’t be a world cup without world teams would it?
All praise to the Portuguese and their awesome display against a world class team. They brought up weak areas of our game and they don’t even play professionally.
Good luck to your home team for the future Fernando their hunger, passion and humility won over my heart last night!
The comment made at half-time seems a personal opinion rather than a review.
Yes the AllBlacks are 1 of the best teams (if not the nº1) in the world, and there was never any dispute that the AllBlacks had the game in their hands, the simple fact that the Wolves made it this far makes them worthy of respect.
Respect that both teams showed in the field for each other and for the game in the spirit of good sporstmanship. Next time try to follow the example of your team.
Good sporstmanship is applied both in the field and out.
The Wolves are a team of amateurs but by god WE ARE PROUD of them.
Like our national anthem says “Contra os Canhões marchar marchar” “Against the cannons March March”
BEST OF LUCK to the AllBalcks
Fernando/Nuno - Think back to the 1995 world cup - the All Blacks scored about 140 points against Japan. 12 years later at the 2007 world cup they concede 100 against Australia.
Clearly they have not developed very well in that time.
It’s great to see Portugal out there and playing rugby, but playing the likes of New Zealand, Australia etc is not helping them. If we wanted to help them, I’d love to see them here for an NZ tour (playing the provinces), that would be great to watch and better for the development.
As for excluding teams from the world cup - I understand that the IRB is considering reducing the number of teams in the 2011 tournament, due to lop sided results. Read the article here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/23/2013017.htm
The football world cup just for Europeans and South Americans . . I don’t know about that, but my point has nothing to do with the location of Portugal, it’s to do with their ability as a rugby playing nation.
I’ve got the utmost respect for the your team as world class sportsmen - representing your country is something most of us can only fantasise about. But playing the All Blacks was a waste of time.
it’s not about the location for god’s sake! it’s about the football power teams are located!! Portugal along with England, France, Brazil etc. your point is that countries with weak teams should not be allowed to play? its that it? Thats the most ridiculous thing i’ve ever heard. In the UEFA world championship 2006 Angola (an amateur team from Africa) came to the group round and made a good round for an amateur team. Of course they didn’t passed but they went there, they did their best, and the Angolan people was very proud, although they loose.
In particular against Portugal(Portugal 1- 0 Angola) they only got one goal, Portugal won by the minimum margin, but putting your view of the facts and assuming that football and rugby are the same sport, Portugal playing that game against Angola was a waste of time.
They’ve deserved to go to the World cup, as Portugal deserve to go to, they have to won a lot of games against other teams to get there! Don’t forget that! try to not underestimate any team, even if it is an amateur.. it is the best amateur team :P
Well, i was surprised by this comment, as a portuguese that played some rugby in College i know about the lack of structures in our country concerning the sport, so the fact that the National team got so far with veterinarians teachers and lawyers playing throughout the field against the great all blacks should not be seen with such cinical eyes and should be praized as a David Golias episode…of course David got severely hammered and got the jersey in the end as a souvenir, but elitist thinking like this will always drive away the competitive sense.
Even losing by more than a hundred i´m proud of them because they pulled a lot of wins to get to the other side of that field, and they showed more hart than a lot of pro´s that we see everyday.
I couldn´t be prouder of my colours.
Hope the All blacks get the cup
Tiago.
Lets not assume that rugby and football are the same sport.
A 1-nil loss in football can in no way be compared to what the All Blacks handed out to Portugal.
Yes, my point is that teams as weak as Portugal should not be taking part in this tournament.
What about the 5-nil loss in womens’ football that Brasil just awarded to New Zealand in the World Cup?? Maybe they should not be there either?? ;-) And in 1982, in the World Cup, this time for men, New Zealand participated and lost three games in a row - 2 x 5 against Scotland, 0 x 3 against Russia, 0 x 4 against Brasil.
I vote we exclude New Zealand from the football world cups in the future, given their results so far when they do get there!
Besides, if you really were a true rugby fan, you would understand that the only way to develop the sport is through funding and of course raising awareness of the game. This is a massive opportunity to create awareness of the beauty of the game in a country where until now not much funding has been allocated to rugby. Therefore your position seems to me a bit selfish, and actually startling coming from a so-called lover of the game.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion whether or not its a correct one…. All i have to say is, it is a WORLD cup, any team to come to the games has to expect to loose to a better one… and in this case it was the All Blacks.
It was a good run around for the reserves at least while the main players rest up for the more “seasoned” teams…
All ups to portugal who came out to play against a much better team… and good luck for the future
[...] ← All Blacks v Portugal review [...]
The fact is that the amateur team scored 13 points against the far superior AB’s team and didn’t play so bad in the first 15/20 minutes of each half. Then, as expected, the amateurs lost their breath and the AB’s run over them. But if this guys were pros and could hang on for the all game I bet the result wouldn’t be so high.
I also ask you, as England didn’t score against the Bocks and they allowed for 36 do you think they also should be banned from the tournment?.
Also, Ireland just scored 14 against Georgia, only 1 more then our score against AB’s.
By definition, a World Cup implies that any team in the World can gain the right through playing the respective game. If not, you’ll be stuck in competitions such as 6 nations, 3 nations and such. Having said that, let me assure you that Portugal won the right to be on the World Cup in the pitch. We played our way to the World Cup. We don’t benefit from a rule that says that some teams will have their place granted on the next World Cup. We are in France because we played better than all the other opponents during qualification. You have your right to your oppinion, but then I’ve the right you don’t like sports and competition. Probably you would prefer that NZ only played the final (hey, what’s the point in playing all the other games?!).
Being in the World Cup made more for portuguese Rugby than all the other initiatives made so far. If you remember right, some national teams improved their rugby a lot after playing the World Cup - Argentina, Italy, and even Japan is playing a lot better.
I’m proud of our boys (I’m portuguese), we lost the game, but we earned the respect of many. Did you know that after the game Portugal and NZ played a soccer match? That’s good sport, that’s Rugby spirit. At least, for some of us.
Just on more thing, wasn’t Italy crushed by the All Blacks? Wasn’t the result 76-14? How many more points did the Italians (pros) scored than the Portuguese (amateurs)? One? Hey, if they are that good and only score one more point, probably it’s Italy who should be axed out of the World Cup. And what about Fiji, Namibia, Tonga, Georgia, Romania, Canada and USA? Hey, I have an ideia, let’s have a competition (?) with just: NZ, England, Scotland, Walles, France, Ireland, Australia and South Africa! And it could be called the 8 Nations Tournament (original)! Or better, the Almost World Cup!
And the other teams could play the World-Cup-Without-The-Less-Experienced- Teams-But-At-Least-Had-To-Play-The-Right-To-Be-Here.
Just joking!
Fernando
If Portugal played well for the first 15/20 minutes of each half, and still conceded 100 points, then this is all the more reason for them not to be here.
Did you know the All Blacks were considering de-powering their scrum so they would not injure the Portugal players?
That is just embarrasing and patronising to the Portugal side. I wrote about it here:
http://sportsthought.com/rugby/lets-axe-portugal-and-japan-from-the-rugby-world-cup
No, England should not be banned - they are the reigning champs and seem to be in a form slump - this happens to all teams in sport (including the AB’s)
But we know that in the long run England are a rugby power.
Ricardo
There are many definitions to a ‘world cup’ As far as tournaments there is always a maximum number of teams to play - the problem we have is that 20 is too much for rugby - the rugby world is not that strong yet.
If there were 20 or 24 or 30 teams of reasonable strenght, then sure lets invite them all to the world cup.
As for the number of teams, I believe 16 is good - much better than 20.
But if they are like Portugal and are conceding 100 points against a top team, then there is no point to them being there. Remember this is a top sports tournament, not some hippy love festival.
I know they played soccer after the game . . . .but to me that’s pathetic. We don’t play South Africa or Australia in cricket after our matches . . .are we just playing Portugal because we pity them, and want to show what nice people the All Blacks are . .
I hope not, because again that is patronising to Portugal.
Argentina have improved over the years, but they have toured here several times over the last 10-15 years which also aided development. I was impressed with them in the France match, and I believe they can kick more butt in this tournament.
But Japan . . . .now lets get real. I blogged about their team here and details their history at the world cup. Their record alone suggest they are out of their depth.
Link: http://sportsthought.com/rugby/lets-axe-portugal-and-japan-from-the-rugby-world-cup
Allright, everyone’s entitled to an opinion. And we look at sports from different points
I understand that you would like a smaller World Cup, with less games or in another format. Teams wouldn’t have to play as many games and AB players wouldn’t take as many chance to be injured. FIFA World Cup as many teams that aren’t that good, but I think that part of it’s magic lives in that fact.
But on the other side, that makes everything more fair, because all the teams have to go through the same risks, and the strongest team (not only the first XV, but also the bench) will have more chances to prove their strength. Even when overpowering the small teams.
Are you worried that NZ won’t win the Cup just because you got tired against Portugal? Aren’t you good enough to overcome that?
Portugal has some good players, that can play as professionals, but if there wasn’t the World Cup nobody would notice them. If only a couple of them gets a professional contract because of the World Cup, you can bet your hair that we’ll be a better team next time. It may not seam much to you, but little steps.
Let me tell you that I don’t think that it is pathetic to show the world that opponents in the pitch can have a good time together afterwards. That’s an excellent example. Sports is about many things, respect, fair play, companionship, etc. Portugal is a strong soccer national team, but I’m not very proud of those spoiled brats that earn millions and aren’t the least worried to honor their colours.
Because of the World Cup, rugby is having such a projection in the portuguese media that you wouldn’t imagine. And if you like the game, you should be happy too, because more players will give more overall quality to the game. And we might not win the World Cup this year (ok…obvious), but thanks to this participation, next year more kids will play rugby in Portugal, and who knows how good we will be in the next years? Probably better.
So, I think that allowing small teams to be in the World Cup, and permiting games against real monsters of the rugby is doing more for the game that cutting them out.
How many more players will an AB victory bring to the game in the world? Not many more, I assure you, than the honorable defeats of less strong teams.
I like the game. I’m not afraid to play against weaker or stronger teams. I don’t think that it makes the game less interesting, the only thing that I’m afraid of, is not playing at all.
By the way, my second team has always been the All Blacks.
Removing the minnows from future Rugby World Cups would be a futile act. The minnows have added a little spice to proceedings and in some cases have pushed the more fancied sides.
Long live teams like Portugal, and if the IRB wish to grow the game internationally then, hopefully, they will think the same way.
C’mon Reece, the only spice we got from the Portugal side was during their national anthem. Those guys are out of their league ;)
I think it’s great they are playing rugby, but they should not be clogging up the world cup.
If they IRB wants to grow the game interntionally there are other better ways of doing it (just don’t ask me what they are cos that’s another post in it’s right)
Key words? WE got. There is more to the game of rugby than New Zealand (there, I said it!). Or for that matter the IRB Board Members. If the All Blacks have to play a “training run” to make it a World Cup, then great. I watched a replay of the Fiji-Japan match and it was a pearler! They deserve their time in their spotlight as much as our ABs do.
I don’t think anyone is proposing we expand the tournament to 32 teams. But this is the showcase for rugby as a GLOBAL game. As an interesting note, notice how the international media is more fixiated on the minnows than the big fish?????
If the ABs have to play a training game in a world cup it makes the tournament a joke.
I agree totally there is tons more to rugby than NZ, but just not Portugal at a world cup. Or Japan for that matter. Or Romania. Or Namibia.
And the list goes on….
Im with you on this one sports, i say they raise the standards required to get into the world cup… Its called being a “professional” team… You can only be a “professional” team if your up to “professional” standards and these teams obviously are not.. It brings down the big players who actually have a shot at being the best in the world. After all is that not the goal of the tournament? to be the best in the world?
Tim,
Talking about professionals and raising the standards.
Are you a professional thinker?
Are you a professional poster?
So you should not be allowed to think or post.
That’s because of guys like you and the author that the world is getting a worst place to live.
Your posts are “Bush”shit.
Sorry.
Fernando,
My ‘Official’ rebuttal is as follows.
I believe that this site allows free thought. Keep in mind my friend its called “sportsthought”. In saying this i do not think your comments are justified as we should be commenting on the topic and not personally attacking each other, which by the way i have not personally attacked anyone on here…
On topic however i still uphold my belief that teams such as portugal, japan etc should either be up to the standard of big teams such as NZ, aus etc. or be out of the world cup.
Have a nice day Fernando :D
Tim and author,
My apologies.
Sorry, I was out of the line and that was not a very sport behavior. You’re untitled to have your own opinion even if I don’t agree with it.
As you, I and everybody have the right to express their opinions in the World Wide Web, even if I and others consider that opinions as not reasonable, so Portugal has the right to play is own rugby in World Cup, even if you and others consider that it’s not a good one.
That was what I was trying to say in the other post, I didn’t want to be offensive to anyone, I was just trying to be ironical.
Please understand that English is not my first language and sometimes It’s not easy to express things like irony.
Extracted from http://www.therugbyblog.co.uk/?p=274
“Another team who got most of the column inches was Portugal. The All Blacks vs. Portugal game being praised for its carnival atmosphere and gutsy performance from the rugby minnows. Titles read “Hey, plucky Portugal…..I like the way you moveâ€, “Demolition far from simple†and “A reason for not reducing the number of teamsâ€.
The Portuguese, knowing they were in for a shoeing, were brave and pretty intelligent in the way they approached the game. They don’t have the resources but the kiwis loved the way they went about the game given their rugby package. Portugal did themselves proud, ran to a standstill and only those with the hardest of hearts would not have shared their delight. In fact it was the press who turned on their own kind describing the All Black display as “scratchy in their execution with too many knock-ons and forward passesâ€. Being the only team in the World Cup with no professional players in their World Cup squad the Portuguese did themselves or other smaller rugby nations no harm at the weekend.
The press are also keen to point out how the World Cup betrays the smaller rugby nations and gives the established teams an edge in qualifying for the quarter finals with England having with eight days to prepare and Samoa only six. This IRB case of charity to the rich and disrespect for the poor is seen in a very dim light and the NZRFU are keen to back Michael Jones (who is still talked about with the highest regard) to use his status to prevent this happening in 2011.”
Hi Fernando, no worries about being out of line. Clearly you have the same passion that the players showed last week - and I love the passion that sport brings out in people. (I still maintain they should not have been there though :)
A note about your last comment, regarding schedules - it’s 100% correct, and I am in the middle of writing a post about it.
The IRB invites all these ‘minnow’ teams, with the promise of expanding the world game etc, but then gives them the worst schedules. I think Japan had just 4 days off between two of their games.
I’ll finish that post and publish it over the weekend.
Cheers
hmmm . . note to self. Write that post before Monday!
Portugal did extremely well, they went in with passion and heart equal to the All Blacks. They new they were going to get thrashed, we knew we’d thrash them, but that’s not what it is about. It’s about the sport, the passion, not about who wins. Winning is a bonus. First and foremost it’s about doing your best and improving. The All Blacks improve with every game, even if it’s a small or easy one and it definitely gave Portugal a chance to improve too.
I think they’ve got shitloads of potential. Oh, and your review sucked.
Jess, at the top level sport is not about doing your best and improving. It’s about winning - pure and simple. Winning is not a bonus, it’s (rightly or wrongly) expected of the All Blacks.
I can’t see how the All Blacks improve with every game . .they seemed rather scratchy against Portugal - despite the crazy score line
I THINK THAT ALL BLACKS VS PORTUGAL WAS A PRETTY HARD GAME FOR PORTUGAL.IT WILL BE BETTER FOR PORTUGAL TO USE SOME OF ALL BLACKS SKILLS TO HELP THEM AFTER THE HALF TIME.
portugal did not work hard to get more then 4 tries through the game.but at least they got points on the score board.if only i was there then they would get 40 or more points.dan carter had good kick s in the game.
shelley masaga.
If you were there how would they get 40 or more points?
i was just making a couple of searches in google and happened upon this page. what an intriguing, and vein piece of opinionated writing.
Is this an amateur website? i sincerely hope it is, as it lacks a great deal of the professionalism and objective use of words that one would expect from a respected sports review website.
I assume that any pieces that you publish on the web mr/mrs Sportsthought is done so on a hobby basis?
i make these comments as the performance of the writer simply does not make the ranks of world leading review magazines/sites and the like.
This review can ‘only harm’ the writer and the reader, as it does nothing to enhance his/her reputation as a sports writer. nothing at all.
As for the reader, it does not do anything to develop the reader in terms of enhanced knowledge of the game in question, the teams involved in the tournament, or the sport as a whole.
does my writing ring any bells for you mr/mrs sportsthought?
and by the way, while New Zealand is known to be the best Rugby team in the world, they are also respected for their humility. please don’t absent mindedly destroy that image with your elitist opinions and biggoted ideas.
Victoria, have a look at my about page - it describes what sportsthought.com is . . . about
http://sportsthought.com/about/
I’m not bothered if you did or did not get anything out of reading my post - although I get the distinct impression you don’t like it . . .yet you don’t say what’s wrong with it?
Hmmm. Looks like Victoria can’t read very well.
She could probably do with a lesson on grammar. She is clearly offended, so I guess she doesn’t quite grasp the point of the article.
And of course - articles and responses are about voicing personal opinion. That’s allowed to be arrogant, but I don’t think it is. Calling this bigoted is a very big stretch (and incorrectly spelt, I might add).
Personally - I enjoyed the NZ vs Portugal game. Colourful interesting, and worth watching. You simply can’t call it even competition though.
ok, firstly let me apologise. this page came up on my search,i read forward, then posted my response without reading about your background and now see that you are just a hobby writer. i was wrong to judge you and have the same expectations of you as i would for a professional writer.
however, i will take the time to explain what i didn’t like about your writing and what i plain disagree with.
Your elitist attitude
“only good thing [Portugal] will get out of this is an All Blacks jumper”. While you are remarking that neither team has nothing to gain from the confrontation, it didn’t occur to you for even a moment that perhaps that the only good thing New Zealand will get out of it is a Portugal jersey. … if neither has anything to gain as you say.
think of things this way - everyone has to start at the bottom (minus those born with a silver spoon in their mouth). this is true in sport, as well as most other aspects of life. you can not ban a participating country from a “world cup” event, just because they are not as good as the top four teams.
every team has a chance to leave their mark on the field. whether it is against the highest ranking team, or the lowest is irrelevant.
how would you have structured the world cup mr Sportsthought? top four teams by reputation play off for the Cup?
perhaps if given the chance to develop (by playing teams of all levels on a regular basis) portugal will be able to bring a strong presence to the competition. who knows? you can only let them try. lord knows they have work super hard to get where they are up until now.
or, maybe its safer not to give new rugby teams a chance to participate. by blocking emerging teams, little old New Zeland remain on top of this pint sized game. i say pint sized, because there are very few nations that even give a penny’s worth of interest in the game.
oh, and steevo; as you can see, there are a number of portuguese people replying to this blog. grammar and spelling in a second language is not so simple for those who are not native speakers. the same goes for native english speakers who do not use english on a regular basis. - believe me, you do forget things :) … sorry if my spelling errors made it too hard for you to read/understand.
Victoria - I am only submitting you to your own criticism.
If you are happy enough to criticise someone elses professionalism, than at least do it in a professional manner.
well put. Again… my apologies
Hi Victoria
I’m not elitist - but I don’t believe Portugal have a place at this world cup. I am very much in favour of them learning and growing and getting better at rugby.
But getting smashed at world cups is not the best way. I’d love to see the IRB or even the NZRU bring Portugal down to NZ to do a proper tour, playing our regional/provincial teams.
They would probably still get beaten, but not by 100 points - but more importantly I think they would learn.
It’s the same with Japan as well.
In terms of a re-sturcture, I’d just cut out 4 teams to make a 16 team tournament.
Nice ideas for sure, but considering that they had to qualify for the world cup just to get the funding needed to allow them to train together in the months leading to the cup, i think its highly unlikely that the IRB will fork out for the team to come and tour New Zealand. For portugal it’s a case of ‘take what they can get’.
it will be out of the question for the team to fund themselves on such a tour as many of them will return to be unemployed after giving up jobs to train. i think if they have the passion to risk food on the table in return for a chance to face the best (and far more developed) teams in the world, than its the least the world (and participants) can do give them respect and let them have a good run. it will be one of their only opportunities to face international competition on a global rather than continental scale.
in addition, the tournament may be just what they need in terms of exposure to pick up a couple of sponsors (funding) and maybe even a coach that could help bring them along.
As an Englishman living in Portugal I must say it has been much more exciting to watch the Lobos than the Rose. And games such as Canada-Japan and Portugal-Romania last night did provide edge-of-the-seat thrills. Certainly more so that any of the clashes between the “big” nations that we have seen so far (although of course Scotland-Italy, Ireland-Argentina and England-Tonga cannot fail to spark as we have, finally, entered the de-facto knockout phase). And this is precisely the point. Were the RWC to be reduced to 16 teams, then there would still be dud games and games that, due to the particular sequence of results, lack real relevance. Therefore, spectacles such as stadia full of red and green-painted Portuguese fans (and, lets face it, their often highly attractive female component) or the tremendous gutsiness of the Lelos from Georgia are all the more important as a bit of spice in what would otherwise threaten to be very dry fare. The pool stages are drawing to a close. Now we can expect to see games involving players who will be giving their all, because every game now counts. Thankfully, we have already had a sneak preview of games in which this applies, due the pleasure of watching teams such as Japan, Georgia and Portugal.
Portugal played a very good spoiling game exposing some flaws. Wait and see what happens when the aussies capitilise on those flaws.
That’s assuming we make it past the frogs ;)
Just to inform you that this weekend a portuguese newspaper as published an article saying that in the past month the number of Rugby Young players as grown for more than the double. They have talked with several rugby clubs and in some clubs the number of young players was multiplied by 3 and in others by 2. The reason: portuguese presence in World Cup.
Cut the presence of this teams in the World Cup and you are cutting the growth of rugby as a worldwide sport.
This kids went to rugby because they saw portugal playing against NZ and Scotland, not because of the games against the other teams.
Make a second division world league and nobody will watch a single match. Rugby will die in Portugal and in other countries like us.
In the past teams like Argentina, Italy and Tonga were repeatedly crushed. With that attitude they would still be banned from the competitions, when all of them have becoming great rugby nations.
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