Ireland tear Portugal apart for record Test win

BBC News

2 days ago

Summer tour second TestPortugal (0) 7Tries: Martins Cons: AubryIreland (54) 106Tries: McCloskey, Gavin 2, T O'Brien 2, Bolton 2, Clarkson, Casey, Prendergast 2, Frawley, Nash, Kendellen, Murphy, Penalty try Cons: Crowley 13
Ireland secured their record Test victory with a 106-7 win in their first ever capped international against Portugal at the Estadio Nacional do Jamor.The visitors to Lisbon, whose previous biggest win was an 83-3 victory over the USA in June 2000, set new marks for points, tries and winning margin. Without their large British and Irish Lions contingent, Ireland's interim head coach Paul O'Connell gave debuts to Alex Kendellen, Hugh Gavin and Shayne Bolton with the latter pair each crossing twice among the visitor's eight first-half tries.Kendellen would then mark his own Test bow with one of the eight Ireland scored after the turn. Portugal got their only score through flanker Nicholas Martins in the second half, although they did have an earlier try chalked off by the television match official (TMO) before communication between the referee and his off-field assistant failed meaning there were no replay reviews in place for the final hour.After last week's win over Georgia, Ireland finished their two-Test summer tour with a pair of wins and will next be in action when they meet New Zealand in Chicago on 1 November.
Portugal impressed at the 2023 World Cup when they beat Fiji and drew with Georgia in their first time at the tournament since 2007.This version of Os Lobos, however, finished only fourth in Rugby Europe after defeats to Spain and Romania and never looked competitive against superior opposition. Despite being without 17 players who are on Lions duty, as well as their head coach Andy Farrell who is leading the tourists in Australia, the visitors dominated from start to finish.They took the lead with less than a minute on the clock when Stuart McCloskey crashed over from close range after some neat involvements from Jack Crowley.That proved to be the first of eight first-half tries with debutants Shayne Bolton and Hugh Gavin both crossing twice in the opening 40 minutes. Tommy O'Brien, who scored a pair of tries during his own debut against Georgia last week, also scored twice in the first half with tight-head Tom Clarkson the other player to go over. The loss of the TMO, in a game played in front of fewer than 10,000 supporters, came only after Portugal had a score chalked off when Vincent Pinto's pass to Nuno Guedes was judged to have gone forward.A difficult half for the hosts was made all the tougher when they lost both captain Tomas Appleton and his replacement Gabriel Avriagnet to injury, forcing back row Francisco Almeida into a role on the wing.
After eight in the first half, Ireland would score eight after the turn too.Their first after the restart came just 90 seconds into the half when captain Craig Casey marked a sharp performance by scampering between the posts.Cian Prendergast, who missed out through illness against Georgia, crashed over after a short line-out move with half an hour to go, while Martins' response involved a neat exchange of passes.Replacements Calvin Nash and Ciaran Frawley were the next players across before Prendergast matched his Connacht team-mates Bolton and Gavin in scoring twice.It was debutant Kendellen whose score edged Ireland past their previous record margin of victory while Ben Murphy became the third replacement on the scoresheet before a last-play penalty try rounded out the huge rout.
Portugal: Guedes; Bento, V. Pinto, Appleton (capt), M. Pinto; Aubry, Camacho; D. Costa, Begic, D. Ferreira, De Andrade, P. Ferreira, De Carvalho, Martins, RuizReplacements: D'Cunha, Lopes, Souto, G. Costa, Almeida, Baptista, Campos, Avriagnet.Ireland: J O'Brien; T O'Brien, Gavin, McCloskey, Bolton; Crowley, Casey (capt); Boyle, McCarthy, Clarkson, T Ahern, Murray, Baird, Kendellen, Prendergast.Replacements: Stewart, Milne, O'Toole, Izuchukwu, Deegan, Murphy, Frawley, Nash.