A heartening performance for As Lobas, the Wolves. With it they secured their first ever Championship win.
Portugal started in fair weather with some slick handling. Sweden responded well, building neat phases with quick repossessiona. For a long while neither side could find the golden key; then, just short of the half-hour, the Wolves mounted a massive scrum which took them over the line and left several Swedes on the ground. Daniela Correia converted well. 7-0
A crying baby on the effects mike belied the feeling of uplift among the assembled masses.
The next moment there was another scrum in the same position. This time the Swedes held it up well, so the hosts spread the ball left. An equally impressive move saw Marta Pedro slip through a gap to go over. But no, Katherine Ritchie had spotted a crossing in front of the posts. No go.
Now the weather turned, rain teeming down.
Portugal scored their next try after excellent handling to the right winger, Mariana Marques, but the referee had difficulty in seeing what was happening, so violent was the storm. As the camera turned to watch the home team walk back, nothing was visible beyond them. It was like smog.
The next moment, sunshine. Sweden built a strong position, helped by repeated Portuguese infringements that cost them a yellow card. But the Swedes lacked the skill to take advantage of promising positions. Forward drives splintered and were repelled.
After the break Ritchie had to warn captain Amanda Swartz about high tackles. Correia wisely took a pot at goal to widen the margin beyond two scores. 15-0
A fine handling move saw Portugal move further ahead through Mariana Santos. 22-0
Sweden were the authors of their own misfortune with the next score: a clearance kick was shanked, then came a knock-on. The Wolves moved the ball right where Santos again finished the job.
There were still 25 minutes to play, but no more points accrued.
Result: 27-0
Player of the Match: Daniela Correia
PThere was plenty of enterprising play from both teams, but the Lobas’ win shows the gaps that exist throughout the game. They had been beaten 31-7 by the Netherlands in their previous outing; here they were too experienced for the Swedes. And there are only four sides in this second level of European nations.
Tamara Taylor’s work goes on.
Your next date is 30 March, Spain v Portugal. Another clear winner all too likely. Teams
Portugal
1 Elsa Santos 2 Ines Cristo 3 Beatriz Rodriguez 4 Maria Morant 5 Ana Fernandes 6 Sara Moreira 7 Arlete Gonsalves 8 Adelina Costa 9 Beatriz Oliveira 10 Marta Pedro 11 Mariana Santos 12 Maria Costa 13 Mariana Marques 14 Ines Spinola 15 Daniela Correia (captain)
Bench: 16 Carlota Torres 17 Maria Teixeira 18 Zoe Fernandes 19 Ana Casas 20 Ines Barbosa 21 Leonor Amaral 22 Ines Marques 23 Cloe da Costa
Head Coach: Joao Moura
Sweden
1 Jennifer Sundqvist 2 Maja Meuller 3 Pauline Sarg 4 Linnea Flyman 5 Cornelia Noren 6 Emma Ytterbom 7 Elizabeth Sonnenholzner 8 Elin Sterner 9 Olivia Palmgren 10 Linda Hakansson 11 Sofya Smolina 12 Sara Jacobsson 13 Hanna Borgemyr 14 Isabel Wykstrom 15 Amanda Swartz (captain)
Bench: 16 Hannah Persson 17 Linn Olforser 18 Marielle Andersson 19 Frida Larsson 20 My Hallberg 21 Carina Trinh 22 Alice Pettersson 23 Cecilia Wykstrom
Head Coach: Tamara Taylor
Referee: Katherine Ritchie (RFU)
The next matches in the European Championship are Spain v Portugal; at Sitges, Spain 30 March; then Netherlands v Spain, at Amsterdam, 6 April.
