Rugby World Cup: winner takes it all as USA and Portugal face final shoot-out for France 2023 spot
- In a battle of contrasting styles, it is almost impossible to predict whose journey will come to a juddering halt
- Both sides have looked on top of their games at times in Dubai, although neither have been really stretched in final qualifying tournament
The journey to next year’s Rugby World Cup will come to a juddering halt for either the USA or Portugal on Friday night, and in a battle of contrasting styles it is almost impossible to predict who it will be.
In the red, white, and blue corner are Gary Gold’s Eagles, and opposite them Patrice Lagisquet’s Os Lobos, and while it might be cliched to suggest the two sides reflect their coaches, it does not make it any less true.
Both sides have looked on top of their games at times in Dubai, although neither have been really stretched in a final qualifying tournament where only the winner can go on to France in 2023.
A Portuguese team of attacking élan that befits a coach who played 46 times for France, and as Gold acknowledged has “pace for fun”, has sliced through the rather porous defences of Hong Kong and Kenya in their previous two games, scoring 127 points in the process.
The South African’s side, meanwhile, take a more pragmatic approach, and while they too were more than a match for the other sides in the tournament, there was a harder-nosed edge to the victories, with forward power very much to the fore.
Lagisquet though has bristled at any suggestion his side has a soft underbelly, despite the try Hong Kong scored from a rolling maul in the opening game, where Portuguese defenders were spat out at will.
