Australia v Portugal preview: Os Lobos hoping to further embarrass struggling Wallabies

Colin Newboult
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Australia's Ben Donaldson and Eddie Jones, and Portugal wing Raffaele Storti.

And so Australia’s 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign ends here, 27 days earlier than they would have liked.

It has been a disastrous campaign from start to finish and one which raised questions over a number of figures within Rugby Australia. For starters, the head coach himself, whose selections have been bizarre and his spats with the media unsavoury. Eddie Jones’ ego has certainly not matched the results on the field and he will go home with his tail between his legs.

The other person in the firing line is chairman Hamish McLennan, who was instrumental in sacking Dave Rennie just eight months out from the global tournament and bringing Jones back.

That has proven to be an utterly dreadful move. There were signs that Rennie was starting to build something positive having ran Ireland and France incredibly close on their 2022 northern hemisphere tour, but Jones decided to rip everything up and start from scratch.

Caught in the middle of this farce has been the players, who have our unwavering sympathy. Experienced campaigners Quade Cooper and Michael Hooper were ousted, with Test rookie Carter Gordon named the number one pivot.

The head coach initially backed the youngster, stating that ‘10s need time’, but after struggling against Fiji, he was unceremoniously dropped. In came Ben Donaldson for the Wales clash, a player who was not even wanted by his franchise, the Waratahs, but was yet seen as the answer by Jones to their problems in the playmaking position.

Unsurprisingly, he failed too. But ultimately it was not his fault. He – and Gordon – were thrown to the wolves by a head coach who has increasingly made more and more random selectorial decisions, starting with England and continuing at the Wallabies.

Let’s hope Donaldson, Gordon and the rest of the young players that have been thrust into this position have not been scarred too badly from the past few weeks.

They do at least have a chance to end on a positive note against Portugal, who are playing in their first global tournament since 2007. On paper, it should be a relatively comfortable evening for the Australians, but Os Lobos have impressed in their first two matches, giving the Welsh a fright and almost overturning Georgia.

The Portuguese have enough in their armoury to cause their opponents problems if the Wallabies, who are low on confidence already, start slowly in Saint-Etienne.

This match feels like England’s dead rubber against Uruguay in 2015, which was a tortuous experience for the Red Rose. Although Australia do not have the embarrassment of being the hosts, that is really the only difference in what has been a fraught time for Jones and his charges.

What they said

Wallabies boss Jones is only focusing on this weekend’s game, refusing to answer anything about the alleged Japan interview or his future.

“It’s not really about me, it’s about the team. My only job is to get the team prepared as well as I can,” he said.

“The only thing I am concentrating on is the Portugal game. If you want to ask about anything else, don’t ask.”

The journalists persisted, going into the rumoured Zoom call with Japanese officials, but once again Jones did not budge.

“I’ve already answered that before. I’ve already said that before. I said no, previously. I am just worried about the Portuguese game,” he added.

“I am 100 per cent committed to the job and I’ve said that previously.”

The head coach equally would not be drawn on whether he would remain as head coach of Australia and see out his five-year contract.

“That’s definitely an option but again, the only thing I am worried about now is the Portuguese game. For me, to make statements about the Portuguese game is irrelevant,” Jones added.

Portugal head coach Patrice Lagisquet is trying not to get too ahead of himself as they prepare to face the two-time world champions.

“I think a lot about my team’s mindset and momentum at the moment, especially in terms of what we can potentially achieve, i.e. third spot in the pool,” Lagisquet said.

“I don’t want us to get too excited. I am afraid that we get our expectations too high and that we come down to earth with a bang. At the end of the day, rugby is about forwards and Australian forwards are impressive.

“I don’t know if we can keep playing such exciting rugby. Plus, we might get tired, though I feel our pre-Rugby World Cup preparation was good enough.”

Lagisquet was also asked if they will perform even better against the Wallabies having kept it close against Wales.

“I wish I could say yes, but we must analyse their game even further to find weaknesses, because their defence is super strong. They don’t leave any spaces to the opponent,” he added.

“It will be difficult for us to make the gain line. Though I want my boys to keep dreaming, I know a team like Australia is always in control. You saw how they managed to keep Georgia in their own 22. It is going to be a tough match.”

Players to watch

After his struggles against Wales, it is a big game for Ben Donaldson, who is again preferred at fly-half to Gordon. Considering that his form was mediocre in Super Rugby Pacific earlier this year and his performances at Test level have yet to convince, you feel that this could be his last game for the Wallabies for a while should he struggle once again.

Alongside Donaldson is centre Izaia Perese, who gets a rare chance in the Australian midfield. This will be his first ever start at international level, with his five previous appearances coming from the bench. Perese has all the athletic qualities to excel for the Wallabies and enjoyed a fine campaign for the Waratahs in Super Rugby. The question is whether his defence and decision-making skills are up to scratch, especially with the 26-year-old in the crucial outside centre position.

Meanwhile, up front, there are not too many alterations, but it will be fascinating to see how Fraser McReight fares. The player chosen ahead of Michael Hooper has not exactly thrived in this tournament and was the man to make way in the back-row when Jones announced his team to play Wales. He is back in the starting XV for this encounter and will need to produce a dominant display to show that he is their long-term openside.

McReight will have his hands full with Os Lobos’ outstanding flanker Nicolas Martins, who has been the team’s star performer over the course of their opening two matches. Martins currently plies his trade in the French Pro D2 but, on the evidence of his displays so far, he will go higher. He is a rangy back-row but someone that gets around the field incredibly well. The 24-year-old also holds his own physically, despite his slight frame, so it will be interesting to see how he goes against another tier one team.

Elsewhere, Raffaele Storti is another tremendous athlete to watch. The wing was absolutely superb against Georgia, scoring two outstanding tries, so the Wallabies will have to be on their toes with him around. Storti will, of course, find it more difficult to make the same impression against a much better outfit, but he has the natural talent to create opportunities even when the space seemingly isn’t there. The flyer is another that will be in demand from clubs around Europe should he once again excel on Sunday.

Prediction

Jones’ men will certainly be determined to finish on a positive note but their confidence is low and Portugal may just play on that and keep it close for a while, much like they did against Wales. However, the Wallabies’ greater physicality, fitness and quality will eventually wear Os Lobos down. Australia by 30 points.

The teams

Australia: 15 Andrew Kellaway, 14 Mark Nawaqanitawase, 13 Izaia Perese, 12 Lalakai Foketi, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Ben Donaldson, 9 Tate McDermott, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Richie Arnold, 4 Nick Frost, 3 James Slipper, 2 David Porecki (c), 1 Angus Bell
Replacements: 16 Matt Faessler, 17 Blake Schoupp, 18 Pone Fa’amausili, 19 Rob Leota, 20 Josh Kemeny, 21 Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, 22 Carter Gordon, 23 Suliasi Vunivalu

Portugal: 15 Nuno Sousa Guedes, 14 Raffaele Storti, 13 Pedro Bettencourt, 12 Tomás Appleton (c), 11 Rodrigo Marta, 10 Jerónimo Portela, 9 Samuel Marques, 8 Thibault de Freitas, 7 Nicolas Martins, 6 David Wallis, 5 Martim Belo, 4 José Madeira, 3 Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 2 Mike Tadjer, 1 David Costa
Replacements: 16 Francisco Fernandes, 17 Duarte Diniz, 18 Francisco Bruno, 19 Steevy Cerqueira, 20 Rafael Simões, 21 João Belo, 22 Joris Moura, 23 Manuel Cardoso Pinto

Date: Sunday, October 1
Venue: Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
Kick-off: 17:45 local (16:45 BST, 15:45 GMT)
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant Referees: Mathieu Raynal (France), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Joy Neville (Ireland)

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