First up: Portugal (by Hadyn)Portugal:
Back in 2000 my partner and I took a trip to Europe. "Where are you going?" people would ask us, and we would reply "Portugal". "Oh", they would answer, "where's that?"
As we wandered the various geographic features of Portugal (hills, valleys, dells, dales etc) and through their beautiful cities we noted many things. First we noticed that Portugal has something in common with New Zealand; we are both small nations next to a much larger and more famous country. A country that they HATE. And really hate, I mean we don't like Australia but at least the buggers never invaded us!
The second thing we noticed is that the Portuguese are really quite lazy. Seriously lazy. Standing outside of cafes smoking and looking around was a national pastime. And as for rugby...
Our friend, who we were visiting in Coimbra (a university town in the north), said that just by saying you were from New Zealand would get you selected to a representative rugby team in Portugal. So how did they get from taking anyone who had "Aotearoa" written on their passport to being the 21st ranked team in the world? (One place higher than Spain, take that!)
Part of the answer is the coach Tomaz Marais. One of the youngest coaches in international rugby and a former Portuguese international (22 caps), Morais was the mastermind behind Portugal's qualification for their first ever Rugby World Cup and has now turned his attention to ensuring his charges as fully prepared for their historic debut. Moraiz was even nominated for the IRB Coach of the Year award in 2004.
"We've shared moments of very strong emotions during the qualifying games for the World Cup" says Marais. "That made us bond with each other more. It's' a very strong relationship we have now between all the people, the technical staff and the players." Lovely.
My underdog team is usually Japan but this year it's Portugal. Their laid back attitude appeals to me (as does their national drink). Their bright red uniforms leave a bit to be desired however. And have a look at them, they ain't the prettiest. Hell some of them aren't even in uniform and at least one photo looks like a mugshot.
Of course on September 15 this nice bunch of lads will meet the All Blacks in Lyon and the All Blacks will run them down like a frightened possum in the headlights of a tank.
Portugal's first match is against Scotland on September 9 in St Etienne, then they meet the All Blacks in Lyon on the 15th, Italy in Paris on the 19th and finally Romania in Toulouse on the 25th.
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