IRB NATIONS CUP TEST RUGBY: Portugal Face Italy Emerging

12.06.2012
Portugal v Emerging Italy in Bucharest (IRB Nations Cup)

Venue: Arch of Triumph Stadium

Referee:

Preview
Even taking into account a number of top players were missing, Portugal would have been very disappointed with their display last Wednesday against Argentina ‘A’.

The young and inexperienced Italian side surprised punters by winning against Russia. They lead the points table. However they have lost two players, di Marchi to injury and Tartaglia, who has been called into the Italian side at the Junior Rugby World Cup being held in South Africa.

Portugal are known for their unexpected upsets. Can they pull one out of the bag today?

Portugal and Emerging Italy have never met before in a 15’s test match.

Portugal Last Five
08.06.2012 v Argentina ‘A’ L 9-41 in Bucharest (IRB Nations Cup)
17.03.2012 v Ukraine L 33-35 in Odessa (ENC 1A)
10.03.2012 v Spain W 23-17 in Lisbon (ENC 1A)
25.02.2012 v Georgia L 7-22 in Tblisi (ENC 1A)
11.02.2012 v Russia L 32-33 in Lisbon (ENC 1A)

GWC Rugby Rankings and IRB Ranking points do not apply

Prediction: Portugal by 7 points

The teams selected for today are as yet unavailable but the squads are listed below for interest.

ARGENTINA ‘A’ (Jaguars)

1	Lisandro Ahualli de Chazal	Universitario	Tucumán
2	Felipe Aranguren	CUBA	URBA
3	Nicolás Azorin	Liceo Naval	URBA
4	Nicolás Basile	Aurillac	FFR
5	Marcos Bollini	Club Newman	URBA
6	Martín Chiappesoni	Atlético del Rosario	URBA
7	Gastón Cortés	Córdoba Athletic	Cordobesa
8	Matías Cortese	Libre	Libre
9	Jerónimo De la Fuente	Duendes RC	Rosario
10	César Fruttero	Jockey Club de Villa María	Cordobesa
11	Martín García Veiga	Buenos Aires C&RC	URBA
12	Lisandro Gómez López	La Tablada	Cordobesa
13	Santiago González Iglesias	Asociación Alumni	URBA
14	Fernando Luna	Córdoba Athletic	Cordobesa
15	Benjamín Madero	San Isidro Club	URBA
16	Matías Masera	Belgrano Athletic	URBA
17	Santiago Méndez	San Isidro Club	URBA
18	Ramiro Moyano	Lince RC	Tucumán
19	Javier Ortega Desio	San Isidro Club	URBA
20	Ignacio Pasman	Club Champagnat	URBA
21	Francisco Piccinini	San Isidro Club	URBA
22	Lucas Ponce	CUBA	URBA
23	Javier Rojas	Universitario	Tucumán
24	Franco Sábato	Asociación Alumni	URBA
25	Juan Pablo Socino	Libre	Libre
26	Roberto Tejerizo	Tucumán Lawn Tennis	Tucumán

PORTUGAL

PROPS
CRISTIAN SPACHUK (Bourgoin - FR)
THOMAS DA COSTA (Lourdes - FR)
JORGE SEGURADO (Direito)
ANTHONY ALVES (Montauban - FR)

HOOKERS
JOÃO CORREIA (Direito)
VASCO MARQUES (CDUP)

LOCKS
EDUARDO ACOSTA (Direito)
ERIC DOS SANTOS (Stade Montois - FR)
GONÇALO UVA (Direito)

BACKROW
JOÃO PAIVA (Agronomia)
VASCO UVA (Direito)
FRANCISCO SOUSA (Cascais)
JACQUES LE ROUX (Agronomia)
TIAGO GIRÃO (Tiago Girão)

SH
FRANCISCO P. MAGALHÃES (CDUL)
MANUEL RAPOSO (Pretoria Police - South Africa)

FH
YANNICK RICARDO (Castanet - FR)
MANUEL COSTA (Belenenses)

CENTERS
CARL MURRAY (CDUL)
JOSÉ LIMA (Agronomia)
FRANCISCO APPLETON (CDUL)

WINGS
BERNARDO CAMPELO (Agronomia)
ANTÓNIO AGUILAR (Direito)
GONÇALO FORO (CDUL)

FULLBACKS
NUNO PENHA E COSTA (CDUL)
PEDRO LEAL (Nice - FR)