Final Qualification for the Rugby World Cup 2023 Competition in numbers

Samuel Marques had to wait until the very last minute of the Rugby World Cup 2023 Final Qualification Tournament to secure Portugal's trip to France. After an arduous 82 minutes of play, Lobos and the USA were tied, but Portugal took the lead in the standings based on goal differential thanks to the draw at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai. Rugby fans can buy Rugby World Cup 2023 Tickets from our website.

Marques and his teammates can now look forward to games against Wales, Australia, Fiji, Georgia, and Pool C opponents at the RWC 2023. In order to understand how Portugal won the Final Qualification Tournament, we also examine the statistics behind it as the festivities in that country continue.

2 – For the past two Rugby World Cups, Portugal has already qualified. They had only previously participated in one competition, the RWC 2007, which was held in France.

3 – To tie for first place on the try-scoring leaderboard, five players each crossed the whitewash three times during the competition. Nate Asperger, Christian Dyer, and Dylan Fawcett of the USA, Raffaele Sortie and Mike Tidier of Portugal, and all four players for the USA scored three tries.

8 – In Dubai, tries were scored on average once every game. The whitewash was crossed on average 4.67 times after halftime, with less than half of those goals coming in the first half.

14 – Six games at The Sevens Stadium saw the use of yellow cards. Teammates Brian Juma and Geofrey Kwacha of Kenya each received two, with Brian Juma receiving the only red card of the competition in the same game.

26 – Kenya gave up more tries than any other team in Dubai. In three games, Hong Kong's defence was breached 15 times, compared to four for the USA and three for Portugal.

30 – Players that Portugal used in all three of the games at The Sevens Stadium. 14 of them participated in each of the three games.

37 – Marques, who successfully booted Portugal to the RWC in 2023, finished the Final Qualification Tournament with the most points, 37. Marques made 14 conversions and three penalties, all of which came in the encounter against the USA that decided the match.

48 – In the Final Qualification Tournament, tries were scored. Portugal, the winner, provided 20 of those, and the United States added 18.

82 – The sixth and final game at The Sevens Stadium saw Marques' right boot make the game-changing swing in the 82nd minute. The USA had been ahead since the hour mark and was just seconds away from the RWC 2023.

113 – Portugal has accumulated more points after three games than the USA, by 17 points (96). In three games, Os Lobos scored 143 points while giving up 30. The men's Eagles scored 133 goals while giving up 37.

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Portugal is sent to the Rugby World Cup in 2023 by Samuel Marques.

Portugal achieved a thrilling 16-16 draw in the Final Qualification Tournament match against USA to become the 20th team to qualify for the Rugby World Cup 2023. Portugal will therefore join Wales, Australia, Fiji, and Georgia in Pool C at the RWC 2023.

Due to their better point differential, Os Lobos simply needed a draw at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai to qualify for a second Rugby World Cup. Samuel Marques made sure of it with the game's final kick. Rugby fans can buy RWC 2023 Tickets from our website.

Tomás Appleton, captain of Portugal, remarked, "It's hard to convey, it's one of the nicest feelings in the world." For the rugby community, this is incredible because we haven't participated in the Rugby World Cup for a while and we need a new generation to motivate the youth.

Earlier on Friday, Hong Kong defeated Kenya 22-18 thanks to a second-half comeback, claiming third place in the standings.

Portugal stun USA

The USA had only failed to make it to one Rugby World Cup before, in South Africa in 1995, and they seized the lead in Dubai when AJ MacGinty fired a penalty kick through the uprights in the third minute. However, they soon lost winger Nate Augspurger to the penalty box, and Portugal quickly retaliated by scoring the game's first try.

In order to take advantage of the space left open by Augspurger's absence and cross the goal line, winger Raffaele Storti received a pass from Nuno Sousa Guedes wide on the right and cut back inside. The conversion by Marques increased Os Lobos' lead to four points.

The score remained that way until Portugal centre José Lima received a yellow card in the 21st minute, and MacGinty converted the ensuing penalty. Unusually, the fly-half for the Bristol Bears missed a shot from the tee that would have given his team the lead at the halfway point.

However, on the verge of the break, MacGinty rediscovered his range, responding to an earlier successful Marques penalty to make the score 10-9 in Os Lobos' favor. Ten minutes into the second half, Marques restored Portugal's four-point advantage, though it came between two missed field goals that would have increased their lead.

And Os Lobos were made to pay for their waste when, at the hour mark, Kapeli Pifeleti Jr. ploughed over from close range. However, Portugal only required a draw to qualify for RWC 2023, and Marques stepped up to deliver it with the game's final kick.

With the try, USA took the lead for the first time since the eighth minute, and MacGinty's easy conversion made it 16-13. In addition, Os Lobos lost prop Francisco Fernandes to the sin-bin for an earlier infraction, though they did not give up during his absence from the field.

Hong Kong comeback seals third

Hong Kong overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat Kenya 22-18 and won third place. Debutant Jak Lam scored the game-winning try. The fact that neither team could qualify for the RWC 2023 after losing their first two games at The Sevens Stadium had no bearing on the level of effort displayed.

African Fly-half Geoffrey Ominde missed the first-period penalty, but the Simbas eventually took the lead after Hong Kong winger Matthew Worley was given a sin-bin. Center John Okoth broke through a hole in the Hong Kong defence to score the game's first try, but Ominde missed the conversion attempt once more.

Due to this, Hong Kong, who had previously ranked 11 spots higher than Kenya in the World Rugby Men's Rankings powered by Cap Gemini, was able to take the lead when number eight Luke van der Smit crossed the try line and Gregor McNeish added the conversion.

Ten minutes later, Worley believed he had scored a second try for Hong Kong, but his effort was disallowed due to a foot in touch. The other half was now Kenya's to keep. After converting a well-executed try by Jacob Ojee, Ominde added a penalty to increase the Simbas' lead to eight points.

The Simbas took advantage of Hong Kong's second half-time reduction to 14 men after full-back Nathan De Thierry received a yellow card, and they went into halftime up 18-7.

Hong Kong however had a good second-half start despite their numerical disadvantage, and Sean Taylor's try, which McNeish added a conversion to, reduced their deficit to one point.

In the 54th minute, Kenya lost fly-half Ominde to the sin-bin and believed they had already given up a third try, but Worley once more had his effort ruled out for offside at the lineout.

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