Two defeats in a row in France, including a record loss to Wales, have left Australia despondent. Their Rugby World Cup future is out of their hands. All they can do is finish the pool phase in a manner to which their fans would like to become re-accustomed.
Eddie Jones has made three personnel changes to Australia’s starting XV, bringing in Fraser McReight, Izaia Perese and Lalakai Foketi. Perese, on his Rugby World Cup debut, will partner his Waratahs team-mate Lalakai Foketi in midfield for the first time in a test match.
On any message he would like to give the Wallaby fans: "All we can do is try to get better every day, mate. That's the only thing we can do. We've got a young squad here. I've purposefully picked a young squad. I think they're the best players in Australia. There is no lack of desire, no lack of work ethic, no lack of spirit in the team. They are a great bunch of boys. We are just not good enough at the moment, but if we keep working the way we are, we will be."
Portugal has already demonstrated that they will not roll over easily. They gave Wales a bigger scare than the final 28-8 scoreline might suggest in their opening Pool C match in Nice two weeks ago.
And Patrice Lagisquet’s side then came agonisingly close to their first-ever Rugby World Cup victory in their second tournament, as Raffaele Storti’s brace of tries gave them an 18-13 lead against Georgia last weekend before Tengizi Zamtaradze’s late try levelled the scores. A missed conversion and a missed penalty later, and the match ended in a dramatic 18-18 draw.
Lagisquet has made four changes, all in the pack, to his starting XV for this match against Australia. David Costa earns his first start of RWC 2023 at loose-head; Martim Belo returns to partner Jose Madeira in the second row; and David Wallis and Thibault de Freitas join Nicolas Martins in the back row.
Patrice Lagisquet said nobody would have given them a chance to surprise against Australia: "It's incredible. I am sure you would never have asked this at the beginning of the competition, but now everybody is asking. It's fantastic to hear everyone say, 'Do you think you can win?' but don't forget we are the 16th nation in the ranking and will play a team used to playing at a higher level with very good players and a very good coach. If we are very lucky maybe we will have a little chance. But don't forget they won by 20 points against Georgia, who we just drew with. But I am proud of what we do and consider that we will play one of the best teams in the world even if they are not at their best at the moment."
Teams:
Australia: 1 Angus Bell, 2 David Porecki (c), 3 James Slipper, 4 Nick Frost, 5 Richard Arnold, 6 Tom Hooper, 7 Fraser McReight, 8 Rob Valetini, 9 Tate McDermott, 10 Ben Donaldson, 11 Marika Koroibete, 12 Lalakai Foketi, 13 Izaia Perese, 14 Mark Nawaqanitawase, 15 Andrew Kellaway. Replacements: 16 Matt Faessler, 17 Blake Schoupp, 18 Pone Fa’amausili, 19 Robert Leota, 20 Josh Kemeny, 21 Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, 22 Carter Gordon, 23 Suli Vunivalu.
Portugal: 1 David Costa, 2 Mike Tadjer, 3 Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 4 José Madeira, 5 Martim Belo, 6 David Wallis, 7 Nicolas Martins, 8 Thibault de Freitas, 9 Samuel Marques, 10 Jerónimo Portela, 11 Rodrigo Marta, 12 Tomás Appleton (c), 13 Pedro Bettencourt, 14 Raffaele Storti, 15 Nuno Sousa Guedes. Replacements: 16 Francisco Fernandes, 17 Duarte Diniz, 18 Francisco Bruno, 19 Steevy Cerqueira, 20 Rafael Simões, 21 João Belo, 22 Joris Moura, 23 Manuel Cardoso Pinto.
