Scotland v Portugal - teams and prediction
PREVIEW: World Cup 2023 surprise package Portugal head to Murrayfield to face Gregor Townsend’s Scotland who is looking to bounce back from their defeat to world champions South Africa.
Townsend made a host of changes from the side that went down to the Springboks, including a new captain in No.12 Stafford McDowall who replaces Glasgow teammate Sione Tuipulotu who’s not considered for this clash.
Scotland have two starting debutants in lock Alex Samuel and loose forward Ben Muncaster.
There is also a possible debut for 19-year-old Freddie Douglas should he make an appearance off the bench – marking him the youngest Scottish debutant since Donald White in 1963.
For Portugal, this is their second Tier one opposition in their last five outings this season, their last one coming against South Africa where they showed real fight and managed to score 21 points against the world Champions.
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Their herocis in World Cup 2023 will also be remembered, most notably beating Fiji who went on to make the quarterfinals – and more recently inflicted more pain on Warren Gatland’s Wales at the Millennium Stadium.
Portugal, however have only won one of their previous 20 Test matches against current Tier one Test sides which came back in 1973 against Italy by 9-6, having lost each of their 15 matches since then by an average margin of 38 points.
Players to watch:
For Scotland: Tom Jordan who’s primarily a flyhalf has great vision and pace to burn and that makes him a big threat for the Portugese defence. Darcy Graham’s last outing for Scotland was in a four-try display against Fiji before suffering an injury in that same clash and he will want to add more to his season tally. In the pack there will be eyes on debutants Ben Muncaster and Alex Samuel.
For Portugal: Lucas Martins is no stranger to the tryline and will hope get some opportunities in space from his inside backs Appleton and Lima – who also scored a try in Portugal’s last match against Spain. Lock Duarte Torgal is a workhorse in the tight-loose and Portugal will look to get clean ball in the lineout off him in conjunction with hooker Luka Begic.
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Prediction
@rugby365com: Scotland by 35 points
Teams:
Scotland: 15 Tom Jordan, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Stafford McDowall (captain), 11 Aaron Reed, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Ben Muncaster, 6 Luke Crosbie (vice captain), 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Will Hurd, 2 Patrick Harrison, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Ewan Johnson, 20 Freddie Douglas, 21 Jamie Dobie, 22 Matt Currie, 23 Kyle Rowe.
Portugal: 15 Simao Bento, 14 Raffaele Storti, 13 Jose Lima, 12 Tomas Appleton (captain), 11 Lucas Martins, 10 Domingos Cabral, 9 Samuel Marques, 8 Frederico Couto, 7 Nicolas Martins, 6 Andre Cunha, 5 Duarte Torgal, 4 Jose Madeira, 3 Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 2 Luka Begic, 1 David Costa.
Replacements: 16 Abel Cunha, 17 Pedro Vicente, 18 Antonio Prim, 19 Antonio R.Andrade, 20 Vasco Baptista, 21 Antonio Campos, 22 Hugo Aubry, 23 Manuel Cardoso Pinto.
Date: Saturday, November 16
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 15.10 GMT
Referee: Takehito Namekawa (Japan)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England), Anthony Woodthorpe (England)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
With additional reporting by @sixnationsrugby
