Os Lobos will be participating in their second tournament in ten months after winning the Final Qualification Tournament in Dubai and securing a spot in Pool C following Friday's 16-point draw with the USA. RWC fans can buy Rugby World Cup 2023 Tickets from our website. With none of the Os Lobos class of 2007 still playing professionally, Rugby World Cup 2023 will be a new experience for the entire Portugal squad. However, the current players will have heard numerous accounts of what it's like to play on the game's grandest stage thanks to assistant coach Luis Pissarra, a veteran of their only appearance 15 years ago. They will also get a chance to see it in action on September 16, 2023, when Portugal plays Wales in the tournament opener in Nice. Wales has never played Portugal in a professional game before, and the only time they did so was in 1994 in Lisbon, when they lost 102-11 to Wales. It was Portugal's largest defeat, ranking third behind a 92-0 loss to Romania and a 108-13 loss to the All Blacks at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The Portuguese team that Nigel Walker, WRU Performance Director, and Ieuan Evans, a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame, ransacked that day is only a shadow of the team that will enter Rugby World Cup 2023 as one of the most exciting teams in Europe. Interesting draw: Portugal is more familiar with Georgia, their second opponent because they are regular participants in the Rugby Europe Championship. It has been a fixture since 1997, when 24 meetings were held together. In the beginning, Portugal did a good job, winning four of the first seven games. However, they hadn't won since 2005, when they last did. Operating system Lobos are without success in the last 17 matches against the Lelos. However, three of those have been drawn, the latest toward the beginning of the current year's Rugby Europe Title. Georgia's 20-match winning streak in the competition was ended when Os Lobos held their hosts to a 25-25 draw. Although Portugal could not capitalize on that result and earn an automatic qualification, their performance that day in Tbilisi will give them great confidence when they meet again on September 23 in Toulouse. Before then, Portugal might play Georgia, but only if the two teams advance to the knockout stages of the new Rugby Europe Championship and draw in the semifinals or final. Rugby World Cup fans can buy RWC 2023 Tickets from our website. Portugal will play Australia for the first time in their history at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard in Saint-Étienne on Sunday, October 1, before finishing their Pool C games against Fiji in Toulouse a week later. Portugal beat Os Lobos in their previous encounters with Fiji, but they were not disgraced in either of their matches in Lisbon. In the first game, which Fiji won in 2005 with a score of 26-17, they improved on that score in the second game, which they won in 2013, 36-13. In the final match, Francisco Appleton, the brother of Portugal's current captain Tomás Appleton, was on the bench. Regardless of the outcome, their entertaining brand of rugby, the legendary Les Bleus coach Patrice Lagisquet, and the one million Portuguese living in France will guarantee they will receive support from every venue. Scotland moved up three places to sixth in the World Rugby Men's Rankings powered by Capgemini. After another fantastic weekend of Autumn Nations Series play, Another dramatic weekend of test rugby that had it all changed the record books. Rugby's reputation as a sport that constantly rewrites its scripts was reinforced by stories like Georgia's shocking victory over Wales in Cardiff, Scotland's chaotic match against Argentina, England's dramatic comeback against New Zealand, and France finishing the year undefeated. Scotland rose from ninth to sixth place in the World Rugby Men's Rankings powered by Capgemini thanks to their 52-29 victory over a Los Pumas team that received three yellow cards and one red. Scotland racked up their highest-ever score against the South Americans, despite losing two men to the sin bin themselves, and they are now the higher-ranked of the two teams, with Los Pumas falling to ninth, with Finn Russell in magnificent form and contributing to six of the eight tries scored by the home team. In the match against Argentina, Darcy Graham became the first player from Scotland to score a hat trick, and Sione Tuipulotu scored his first test try by crossing twice before receiving a yellow card at the final whistle. The raucous crowd at Murrayfield enjoyed the points race. GEORGIA Stagger Wales The mindset in Cardiff was considerably more solemn as Ridges lost 13-12 to Georgia, their first loss to the Lelos. Wales still has a chance to end the year on a high when Australia comes to the Principality Stadium on Saturday. However, they will be ranked ninth, one spot below Australia, after falling two places. Georgia's first victory over Wales at the fourth attempt earned them a two-point rating boost, which enabled them to move up to 13th place and replace Fiji. Above Scotland, there was no development, with Ireland, France, New Zealand, South Africa, and Britain possessing the main five in a specific order. Due to the large points differential between the teams, Ireland and France did not receive any additional points for their victories over Australia and Japan before home advantage was taken into account. However, the Springboks received a little reward of 0.20 points for their 63-21 victory over Italy in Genoa. England's rating was pushed up by 0.17 of a point after they overcame a 25-6 deficit to draw with New Zealand 25-25. PACIFIC HEIGHTS IN BUCHAREST Samoa's 22-0 victory over Romania, where all of the points were scored in the first half, has elevated them to 11th place. Likewise, in Bucharest, the main gathering among Tonga and Uruguay finished in a persuading 43-19 win for the Pacific Islanders. Tonga is still 15th, but they are only 3.63 points and one place behind Fiji. The gap was 7.29 points at the beginning of the month, and Fiji was ranked four places higher. Due to their loss of 1.07 points, Uruguay is now 17th, one spot below Spain. It was a very disappointing weekend for North American rugby. The USA failed to qualify for the Rugby World Cup 2023 after a 16-16 draw, with Portugal and Canada losing 43-37 to Namibia. Even though the draw had no significant impact on the USA's score or position, Canada dropped to 23rd place, where Namibia took its place. World Rugby Main Rankings Important List: • World Rugby Women's 15s Player of the Year: Ruahei Demant (New Zealand) • World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year: Josh van der Flier (Ireland) • World Rugby Coach of the Year: Wayne Smith (New Zealand Women's 15s) • World Rugby Men's Breakthrough Player of the Year: Ange Capuozzo (Italy) • World Rugby Women's Breakthrough Player of the Year: Ruby Tui (New Zealand) • World Rugby Men’s Sevens Player of the Year in partnership with HSBC – Terry Kennedy (Ireland) • World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year in partnership with HSBC – Charlotte Caslick (Australia) • World Rugby Referee Award – Tappe Henning (South Africa) • Vernon Pugh Award for Distinguished Service – Dr Farah Palmer (New Zealand) • International Rugby Players Special Merit Award – Bryan Habana (South Africa) • International Rugby Players Men’s Try of the Year – Rodrigo Fernandez (Chile, v USA on 9 July) • International Rugby Players Women’s Try of the Year – Abby Dow (England, v Canada on 5 November) RWC 2023 fans can buy Rugby World Cup 4th Quarter Final Tickets from our website.