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SAINT ETIENNE – Portugal’s head coach Patrice Lagisquet dares to dream about the ultimate pool C upset over Australia after the Wallabies’ back-to-back losses to Fiji and Wales.
The teams face off here on Monday AEST with the Wallabies needing a positive result in the Fiji vs Georgia game 24 hours to remain a mathematical chance of making the quarterfinals.
Portugal are fighting fatigue after a draw with Georgia following a defeat to table-topping Wales.
Australia must hope Fiji lose to Georgia this week and then Portugal a week later to advance – a situation that is highly unlikely/.
“Some players were tired. It’s difficult to play three games in a row at that level. We are not used to that and we need to refresh. But the goal remains the same, from the first minute to the last minute of the game, we will try to keep a good balance,” said Lagisquet on Friday.
“We know we are not as powerful as the Australian team, far from that. But we need to keep a good balance between power and the way we can move.”
He said Australia’s defeat had led to people asking him a question he never expected.
“It’s incredible! I am sure you would never have asked this at the beginning of the competition, now everybody is asking,” he said.
Patrice Lagisquet, Head Coach of Portugal, looks on prior to the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between Georgia and Portugal at Stadium de Toulouse on September 23, 2023 in Toulouse, France. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
“We are playing against Australia. They are the two-time world champions. They have always qualified for the quarter-finals. They are a very strong side with very good players, powerful.
“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.
“We must just keep focused on what we can do and not think that we have a good chance to win. We have to compete like we did against Wales and we’ll see what happens.
“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.”
The team’s lock Jose Madeira said his team was well aware of the Australians’ issues.
“We are focusing on ourselves. We know that Australia are going through a tough time at the moment,” he said. “But they are two-time world champions, they are very good team with a lot of talents, a lot of arms in their pockets. They are going to be a tough team to beat.”
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has tried to change things up to ensure that an already embarrassing campaign doesn’t become a total disaster with a defeat to Portugal.
“Obviously it was a tough old week. We trained the day after the game because we wanted to get back out on the field. With the young players we thought we wanted to get their thoughts in their head about how we want to play against Portugal,” Jones said Friday.
“So we changed the training week around, trained on Monday, had Tuesday as a recovery day, had two really good sessions Wednesday, Thursday. We’ve got a clear plan how we’d like to play against Portugal and the players have responded really well.
“We’re looking at changing everything, trying to find out what works and what doesn’t work. When I say that, we are consistent in our training. I think we’ve trained really well but we are not getting the results, and sometimes the scoreboard is the last thing to change. And that’s hard to take and I know it’s hard to understand, but sometimes that’s the case.”
The Wallabies react after losing to Fiji at the Rugby World Cup. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
Recalled backrower Fraser McReight reflected on a tough week since the Wales defeat.
“We’ve definitely had some tough meetings this week. Not necessarily player-led but with Eddie [Jones] and all the staff involved as well. When they are involved, when they are pointing you at the chest it’s hurtful, it’s a bit more impactful, “said McReight
“In terms of the group itself, we all know what’s happened and why but there hasn’t really been any player-only discussion, a lot of it has come from the coaches and we’ve had our own input into those situations.
“There is a core group here that will hopefully be involved in Australian rugby moving to the next World Cup and so forth, so the big key lesson for us is being able to endure the pain but also learning from it.
“It has to be a motivational factor moving forward. It was a tough day in the sheds, tough day post; it was like we woke from a bad hangover, very, very tough. Something that we couldn’t get out of our heads. But come the Monday and the Tuesday, we wiped it out and got on the paddock and move forwards.
“We still have a chance this weekend, albeit it’s quite small, but there’s still hope there.”