The Portugal hooker Mike Tadjer believes his side have proved to their country that “rugby exists” after their thrilling first ever World Cup win against Fiji on Sunday.
Portugal claimed a historic 24-23 victory over the Pacific islanders thanks to Rodrigo Marta’s late try and Samuel Marques’ nerveless conversion. As a result, Portugal have moved up to 13th in the world rankings, leapfrogging Tonga, Samoa and Georgia, with whom they drew earlier in the competition.
Os Lobos have won countless admirers for the ambition they have shown in France throughout their pool stage campaign. Tadjer produced one of the moments of the match against Fiji, expertly finding touch when deep in the back field, and the hooker hopes Portugal’s performances have not gone unnoticed in his football-mad country.
It was some way for Tadjer to bring the curtain down on his career, having taken the decision in May to hang up his boots at the end of Portugal’s World Cup campaign. “For us it’s amazing,” said Tadjer. “I’m really proud. It’s the perfect finish. We played well during the first three games but didn’t win. But [against Fiji] we are really happy.
“I hope it can spark interest in Portugal,” the 34-year-old added. “That’s what we said before the tournament – we wanted to show Portugal rugby exists. We hope the biggest people can find more and more to keep Portuguese rugby growing. As you know, the most famous sport in Portugal is football and we are in a little place. We hope that’s going to be different going forward.”
Portugal have been well followed throughout the World Cup – more than 32,000 spectators were in attendance on Sunday night in Toulouse. Sixteen of their squad are currently playing for French clubs, while Tadjer was at Perpignan last season.
“In France, there are a lot of Portuguese [people],” Tadjer added. “The atmosphere was really good for us. He now hopes Portugal’s impressive showing in France will lead to more opportunities against established nations.
“We need to compete with the toughest, biggest teams, like Australia or Fiji to gain more experience, even if we concede 50 points. We need to work hard to keep this level high in the Portuguese rugby world.”
