Portugal to play B Team against All Blacks

marco_polo · 03-09-2007 1:27pm #1

They look to be following in Scotlands footsteps. Considering that Portugal's first choice team lost to London Welsh a few weeks ago, training camp must be going very well since then to be so confident.

http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news/portugal-to-play-b-team-against-all-blacks/2007/09/03/1188783127915.html

Considering a poorer side AB side put up 145 on japan a couple of World Cups ago, does international rugbys first 200 point defeat beckon?

daveirl · 03-09-2007 1:32pm

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Diamondmaker · 03-09-2007 1:46pm

"Sunday News revealed in June that Scotland coach Frank Hadden, will rest his top side so his players are fresh to face Italy a real threat for second place in the pool. This robbed the All Blacks whose other pool opponents are Romania of credible tests before a quarterfinal on October 6 against France, Ireland or Argentina."

The very fact that the ABs will not have a single challenging game prior top the QF is their greatest chance of losing to Irl or any other team at this point!! I wonder how much of an effort the Italians will make given all they have to do is beat the Scot to get thro!

Could be a great opportunity to meet a cold ABs team away from home in a very favorable venue for the Irish...

marco_polo · 03-09-2007 1:47pm

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Yeah I was wondering about that myself, I suppose a try every 3.5 / 4 minutes would be the maximum scoring rate considering the time taken up by conversions, restarts etc. Which would be somewhere around the 140 -160 points bracket.

Diamondmaker wrote:

"Sunday News revealed in June that Scotland coach Frank Hadden, will rest his top side so his players are fresh to face Italy a real threat for second place in the pool. This robbed the All Blacks whose other pool opponents are Romania of credible tests before a quarterfinal on October 6 against France, Ireland or Argentina."

The very fact that the ABs will not have a single challenging game prior top the QF is their greatest chance of losing to Irl or any other team at this point!! I wonder how much of an effort the Italians will make given all they have to do is beat the Scot to get thro!

Could be a great opportunity to meet a cold ABs team away from home in a very favorable venue for the Irish...

That is a good point, by the time the quarter finals come about they may not have played any really good competitive games since the tri-nations, it is certainly possible that they could be somewhat rusty.

I do think Italy will have a go with their first team because they won't have to face the scots for almost a month afterwards. They will give the NZ pack a game of it anyway.

AlphaMale 3OO · 03-09-2007 1:48pm

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

I reckon your right. I don't think enough time actually exists to facilitate such a score. There was a 350-0 scoreline in French Rugby years ago but the losing team sat down out of protest. I'd say the All Blacks could put 160+ on Portugal who would probably be the standard of Ballymena or Dungannon or less. It's a shocking situation and probably the greatest mismatch in the World Cup up to this point. You'd have to wonder will New Zealand realise the damage that could be done and actually take the foot off the pedal in realisation of the damage this can do to the games reputation? Conversely, that would make a mockery of the World Cup. Its time to cut to 16 teams.

jameshayes · 03-09-2007 1:50pm

I dont think sending out your B team is fair play.. I know they dont stand a chance against the AB's but it's not as if they have anything to lose, it would be almost impossible to even come second...

You dont see Georgia sending out there B team against Arg so they can have a better shot against Ireland

remus808 · 03-09-2007 2:01pm

Haha oh dear oh dear. Jonah Lomu has more chance of being top try scorer in the tournament than any Non-New Zealander now. Say all they're odds have been slashed.

Portugal A - vs- NZ B would be a horrible mismatch.

Portugal B - vs - NZ A is a scary thought.

Jak · 03-09-2007 2:41pm

Will NZ bother fielding 1st team players for 80mins at all in the pools? They'd get more competitive practice on the training pitch with less risk of injury.

I tend to bet on the major rugby tournaments and always focus on top tryscorer bets with e/w on the top 5 places. Usually in the 6 nations it is quite close with a massive tie for 2nd or 3rd place.

But for the world cup and with NZ in the pool groups it's hard to know where the majority of tries will come from and who will be in the position. Against B teams they will barely need a 2nd phase, let alone a winger to score.

I just wonder if there is a risk of B team portugal amateurs turning the game into a series of fouls after the first 10 tries.

For the moment I think Tuqiri @ 33-1 is a good e/w shot. And a throw away bet on 250-1 O'Gara and 300-1 Bergamasco to make that top 5...

tHE vAGGABOND · 03-09-2007 2:47pm

TBH I would do the same thing in their book..

They are going to loose by 100+ points either day, you may as well rest the better players physically and indeed emotionally [not easy to loose by 100+ points - for anyone] for the games they have the small chance of winning..

Iompair · 03-09-2007 4:48pm

Its the smart thing for Portugal to do, why bother getting your best players mauled and possibly injured against a physically rough and infinitely more skilful side.

Its not right but I can't blame them.

thebaz · 03-09-2007 4:53pm

i love the world cup, and welcome all new nations to the game , but with no real breakthroughs , apart from the pumas and italy -- why did they expand the WC above 16 , if anything i would reduce it to 12 -- apart from being boring its dangerous - remember that Ivory Coast winger

for instance does Ireland v Namibia tell us anything , apart from humiliating for the Nambians -- roll on the serious stuff

patmac · 03-09-2007 4:54pm

Diamondmaker wrote:

"Sunday News revealed in June that Scotland coach Frank Hadden, will rest his top side so his players are fresh to face Italy a real threat for second place in the pool. This robbed the All Blacks whose other pool opponents are Romania of credible tests before a quarterfinal on October 6 against France, Ireland or Argentina."

The very fact that the ABs will not have a single challenging game prior top the QF is their greatest chance of losing to Irl or any other team at this point!! I wonder how much of an effort the Italians will make given all they have to do is beat the Scot to get thro!

Could be a great opportunity to meet a cold ABs team away from home in a very favorable venue for the Irish...

Or conversly a very fresh AB side with light training matches taking on a fecked Irish/French/Argie side after two tough matches, can't see how it would be a disadvantage tbh.

Punchbowl · 03-09-2007 5:22pm

tHE vAGGABOND wrote:

TBH I would do the same thing in their book..

They are going to loose by 100+ points either day, you may as well rest the better players physically and indeed emotionally [not easy to loose by 100+ points - for anyone] for the games they have the small chance of winning..

Yet, if I was a Portugal first choice player I would be very upset at missing the chance to play against the all-blacks. It could be a once in a lifetime chance for most of these guys

jameshayes · 03-09-2007 5:27pm

Punchbowl wrote:

Yet, if I was a Portugal first choice player I would be very upset at missing the chance to play against the all-blacks. It could be a once in a lifetime chance for most of these guys

good point!

Portugal to play B Team against All Blacks

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