IRELAND LAUNCHED INTO a big match week this morning in the Algarve, while Portugal did the same up in Lisbon.
The Six Nations dominates the rugby consciousness at this time of year but it’s also a crucial window for the countries who would love to join the top table.
Georgia dominate the Rugby Europe Championship, winning 15 of the last 17 titles, including the last seven in a row.
But Portugal, who last won the championship in 2004, have been a hugely improved force in recent times, finishing as runners-up to the Georgians in the past two editions. This year, there’s the extra carrot of direct qualification for the next World Cup for four teams.
Os Lobos - the Wolves – gained huge support at the 2023 World Cup in France, drawing with Georgia and recording a stunning 24-23 win over Fiji thanks to a brilliant late try from wing Rodrigo Marta, converted by scrum-half Samuel Marques.
That unforgettable victory in Toulouse was the perfect end to a thrilling campaign for the Portuguese, whose daring, high-speed style of rugby won them a big batch of new supporters.
That game was also the glorious endpoint of French boss Patrice Lagisquet’s time in charge of Portugal. Known as the ‘Bayonne Express’ when he was a brilliant player for les Bleus, his coaching philosophy was perfect for the skillful, quick Portuguese squad.
Lagisquet will have a proud place in Portugal’s rugby history but they’re now into a new chapter. There was a brief interim head coach stint for João Mirra for last year’s Rugby Europe Championship but the new boss is a man familiar to Munster fans.
Ex-All Black Simon Mannix was with the Irish province for two seasons from 2012 to 2014, working as backs and attack coach under fellow Kiwi Rob Penney. The New Zealanders did their best to change how Munster attacked, implementing a 2-4-2 shape in phase play but never fully convinced the players that such a drastic shift from what they’d known in Munster was the right approach.
Mannix moved on to become head coach of Pau, guiding them to promotion from the French Pro D2 and helping to establish them in the Top 14.
He became the Singapore boss in 2019 but two Covid-ruined years later, returned to France to work with the tiny Bassin d’Arcachon club in the fourth tier before a one-year stint with Biarritz last season.
The Portuguese union felt Mannix’s coaching approach was a good fit with their exciting squad, while his experience in French rugby was also deemed to be useful given that several of Os Lobos‘ key players are based there.
Marta – Portugal’s record try scorer – and fellow wing Vincent Pinto play with Colomiers in the Pro D2, the outstanding Raffaele Storti is with Stade Français, brilliant flanker Nicolas Martins plays for Montpellier, Marques is in Bèziers along with young out-half Hugo Aubry, fullback Simão Bento is on the books at Mont-de-Marsan, flanker/lock José Madeira is a regular for Grenoble, while tighthead prop Diogo Hasse Ferreira is a cornerstone of Dax’s pack.
39-year-old loosehead Francisco Fernandes is set to hang up his boots at the end of this season so the upcoming Rugby Europe Championship will be his final campaign with Os Lobos. Fernandes is a legend of the Pro D2 having played with Bèziers since 2011.
Mannix’s coaching staff includes Irishman Elliot Corcoran, an experienced analyst who worked with Mannix at Munster before the Kiwi coach brought him to Pau as their head of performance analysis in 2014.
Cork man Corcoran returned to Irish rugby in a role with the IRFU and Munster academy for the 2021/22 season before joining French club Agen in the summer of 2022. He has now linked up with Mannix again as part of the Portuguese set-up, which also includes Mirra as backs coach and former France hooker Olivier Azam as forwards coach.
Os Lobos had a 37-22 win away to Namibia in Mannix’s first game in charge last July, before the Springboks ran 10 tries past them in a heavy 64-21 defeat in Bloemfontein.
There was a disappointing 21-17 loss at home to the USA in November before Scotland beat them 59-21 in Edinburgh.
Stade wing Storti showed his finishing prowess with tries in both of those autumn games and Mannix will be hoping his Portugal team can light up this Rugby Europe Championship – which can be watched on Rugby Europe TV – with their attacking rugby.
It’s an important one because four teams will qualify directly for the 2027 World Cup, which will expand to 24 teams.
As was the case for the last two years, the championship is made up of two pools of four teams. The top two teams from each of the pools will go straight into the World Cup.
Portugal face Belgium in Lisbon on Saturday night, host Germany in round two, then travel to Romania for their final pool game on 15 February, by which time they should already have a top-two spot sealed. Os Lobos are ranked 16th in the world, with Belgium 29th, Germany 32nd, and Romania 20th.
From the other pool, Georgia and Spain are favourites to qualify for the World Cup, with the Netherlands and Switzerland hoping to cause a couple of shocks.
The semi-finals and final take place in March, so Mannix and co. will have their eyes on the championship title as they try to end Georgia’s run of glory, while their Test at home against Ireland is also a massive part of 2025.
The details have yet to be confirmed but Lisbon is the most likely venue for that visit from Simon Easterby and his squad in July. It will be the first-ever Test between the nations and it could be a real cracker in the Portuguese sun.
For now, Portugal will have plenty of fans around the world as they go after the Rugby Europe Championship.
I would
Well done boys and well done Steph