Second string Ireland humiliate hapless Portugal with a record-breaking 16-try rout
Ireland rounded off their two-match summer tour with a facile 106-7 win over Portugal in Lisbon that should have the authorities worried about the competitiveness of the expanded 24-team Rugby World Cup in 2027.
The Irish were 54-0 ahead at the break following a horrible eight-try defensive horror show by the hosts, and the chasm widened in the second to record-breaking proportions following eight more tries.
By the finish, a new mark has been set for the biggest win in their history, beating the 83-3 set in 2000 versus the USA. The 16-try total also bettered the record of 13, also set in that American demolition at the turn of the millennium.
Interim Ireland boss Paul O’Connell, who was given the reins with Andy Farrell in Australia heading up the British and Irish Lions, had arrived at the Estadio Nacional looking to continue the depth-building mission impressively launched last weekend with a 34-5 win over Georgia in Tbilisi.
Here, he handed debut caps to starters Hugh Gavin, Shayne Bolton and Alex Kendellen and while two of them – Gavin and Bolton – struck for two first-half tries each, the lack of Portuguese fight meant that little or nothing could be taken by the Irish from this training-ground-like-runaround that was a terrible look for tier two international rugby in Europe.
Shambles
The Portuguese XV comprised seven local club players and eight earning a living in France’s Pro D2, but this team, marshalled by Simon Mannix, was a shambles compared to the side that flourished at the 20-team Rugby World Cup 2023 under Patrice Lagisquet.
There were a couple of fleeting reminders from two years ago; they still have some players committed to attempting to run it from anywhere and the sole try they scored was neat, but their unreliable in-structure play and their amateurish defence left much to be desired, and they looked well-beaten as early as the 13th minute following the concession of four early tries.
Ireland needed less than a minute to illustrate the gulf between the teams in what was the first Test between the countries. A gallop from Jimmy O’Brien was the initial warning sign, and the danger became clear when Jack Crowley looked up and exploited the unfolding space.
By the finish, a new mark has been set for the biggest win in their history, beating the 83-3 set in 2000 versus the USA. The 16-try total also bettered the record of 13, also set in that American demolition at the turn of the millennium.
Interim Ireland boss Paul O’Connell, who was given the reins with Andy Farrell in Australia heading up the British and Irish Lions, had arrived at the Estadio Nacional looking to continue the depth-building mission impressively launched last weekend with a 34-5 win over Georgia in Tbilisi.
Here, he handed debut caps to starters Hugh Gavin, Shayne Bolton and Alex Kendellen and while two of them – Gavin and Bolton – struck for two first-half tries each, the lack of Portuguese fight meant that little or nothing could be taken by the Irish from this training-ground-like-runaround that was a terrible look for tier two international rugby in Europe.
Shambles
The Portuguese XV comprised seven local club players and eight earning a living in France’s Pro D2, but this team, marshalled by Simon Mannix, was a shambles compared to the side that flourished at the 20-team Rugby World Cup 2023 under Patrice Lagisquet.
There were a couple of fleeting reminders from two years ago; they still have some players committed to attempting to run it from anywhere and the sole try they scored was neat, but their unreliable in-structure play and their amateurish defence left much to be desired, and they looked well-beaten as early as the 13th minute following the concession of four early tries.
Ireland needed less than a minute to illustrate the gulf between the teams in what was the first Test between the countries. A gallop from Jimmy O’Brien was the initial warning sign, and the danger became clear when Jack Crowley looked up and exploited the unfolding space.
This early 28-0 surge was then completed by Bolton gathering a Casey box kick inside his own half, fighting off the resulting contact on landing and creating an unopposed run-in for himself from the halfway line. Painfully, it was men against boys.
Even when they managed to raise a cheer on 20 minutes, the noise was quickly silenced by the TMO as the Sousa Guedes’ breakaway try they had been celebrating was chalked off due to a forward pass from Vincent Pinto.
The Portuguese cause was further damaged by the loss of Tomas Appleton, who exited injured on a stretcher following a lengthy stoppage for treatment.
Equipment malfunction
A communications issue added to this delay, referee Adam Leal returning to the field after a brief disappearance to explain there would be no more TMO in the game due to an equipment malfunction. He insisted, though, that the Appleton incident had been checked and the Portuguese midfielder wasn’t the victim of foul play when cleared out at a ruck.
After play finally restarted, Ireland went on to usher Tommy O’Brien in for his second try on 24 minutes, the winger running the perfect support line on Crowley’s shoulder from a lineout move to take the pass and go in at the posts.
There was no staunching the Portuguese bleeding before the interval as three more tries were conceded. A neat Cian Prendergast pass invited tighthead Thomas Clarkson to run free and round to score under the posts.
Next, Tom Ahern won an impressive breakdown turnover near his team’s 10-metre line and Casey went for a 50:22. It looked like a poor kick but with two defenders idling and looking for the ball to roll out over the dead ball line, Bolton raced into the in-goal area to get the touch.
For once, Crowley didn’t have the accuracy off the tee to bag the extra points, but he was back on task less than two minutes later to make it 54-0. A break from the back of a maul from Gus McCarthy scattered the Portuguese cover and when the ball came back infield, McCloskey gave the assist pass to Cooney for the try.
There was no let-up from the Irish when the second half began, as a scrum in their own 22 was the platform for Casey going in under the posts after a powerful Bolton break.
Tackling air
Crowley’s added points pushed the gap to 61, and it moved to 66 on 51 minutes when a low throw to the front of the lineout resulted in Prendergast successfully breaking down the short side off a resulting ruck. Crowley scuffed his conversion, and he won’t want to be reminded either for tackling air two minutes later when Pinto breezed by him to set up Nicolas Martins for Portugal’s first converted try.
It wasn’t the cue for a consolatory fightback. Within minutes, a Casey pass from scrum ball sent in sub winger Calvin Nash for an unconverted Irish score, and the 71-7 lead was added to by Ciaran Frawley’s converted try. Next, Casey set up Prendergast and the records set in a 2000 hammering of the USA were now set to tumble.
Kendellen, the third debut starter in the Ireland XV, scored the record-making 14th try and another Crowley conversion left it 92-7, an 85-point margin greater than the 80 achieved in New Hampshire 25 years ago. There was more to come, a converted Ben Murphy score and a penalty try completing Portugal’s humiliation.
The teams
Portugal: 15 Nuno Sousa Guedes, 14 Simao Bento, 13 Vincent Pinto, 12 Tomas Appleton, 11, Manuel Cardoso Pinto, 10 Hugo Aubry, 9 Hugo Gomes Camacho, 8 Diego Pinheiro Ruiz, 7 Nicolas Martins, 6 David Wallis de Carvalho, 5 Pedro Ferreira, 4 Antonio Rebelo de Andrade, 3 Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 2 Luka Begic, 1 David Costa
Replacements: 16 Abel da Cunha, 17 Pedro Santiago Lopes, 18 Martim Souto, 19 Guilherme Costa, 20 Francisco Almeida, 21 Vasco Baptista, 22 Antonio Campos, 23 Gabriel Aviragnet
Ireland: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Hugh Gavin, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey (c), 8 Cian Prendergast, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Ryan Baird, 5. Darragh Murray, 4 Tom Ahern, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Jack Boyle
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Calvin Nash
Referee: Adam Leal (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe (RFU), Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)
