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.

The match took place in some of the greenest surroundings imaginable, but later it was affected by rain.

Portugal, ‘As Lobas’ (the Wolves), started promisingly, Antonia Martins making two threatening runs on the left. But once the Oranjes got their feet on the ground, they showed their greater know-how. A fine line-out catch was followed by a big rumble, then some good combos.

Another set of phases led to their first try, scored by flanker Elisabeth Boot. 0-7. Portugal then had their best moment when Mariana Marques found an inviting gap to run through unimpeded to the posts. 7-7.

The rest of the game was hampered by intermittent rain, which may have accounted for some of the handling errors. Slowly the Dutch were gaining control. On the half-hour they had a scrum put- in on the 5 metre line under the posts. Sure enough, Lieve Stallmann went over on the left wing. Defences had been pulled out of position. 7-12

Right on half-time Anoushka Beukers completed a faultless drive after a clean line-out take by Linde van der Velden.

Half-time: 7-17

That third try put wind in the Dutch sails. They started building threatening moves, support players arriving on time to keep forward momentum. Dummies and reverse passes led to another try, this one by Nicky Dix. 7-24

The Portuguese cause wasn’t helped by a yellow for hooker Ines Marques, as she impeded another Dutch advance. Beukers added her second from close in. 7-31.

The match finished with the Dutch still attacking strongly. The Lobas were well beaten, but, given their relative lack of experience, can be pleased with their performance. Every match they play will add enormously to their grasp of game-management, when to take a risk, when to play safe, and so on. For them Adelina Costa stood out for her hard work and thrustful running.

Their encounter with Sweden in a fortnight’s time should give them more time and room to express themselves.

For the Oranjes the big game is the clash with Colombia next month (details below). This run-out in Lisbon will reveal the edges that need smoothing in their game, but their pack looks strong enough to counter most challenges at this level. More variety at the base of the scrum would be welcome. They too have succumbed to the supposed delights of the ultra-slow caterpillar ruck. On the same day England’s men’s team showed how unprofitable that can be. The referee’s call ‘Use it!’ should be banned from the game entirely. Why should a team need to be told to ‘use’ the ball? Why else have they turned up?

Coverage: there was no TV commentary, but the referee kept up a barrage of informative instructions, some repeated four times. The cameras looked as though they had stopped off once or twice on their way to the ground. They had great difficult in keeping up with the movement of the ball, but we should be grateful for their presence.

Result: Portugal 7 Netherlands 31

Teams (as originally published; there were last-minute adjustments):

Portugal

1 Carlota Torres 2 Ines Marques 3 Beatriz Rodrigues 4 Ana Casas 5 Ana Fernandes 6 Laura Pereira 7 Arleta Consalves 8 Adelina Costa 9 Ana Santos 10 Isabel Osorio 11 Antonia Martins 12 Maria Costa 13 Mariana Marques 14 Ines Spinola 15 Daniela Correia

Bench: 16 Elsa Santos 17 Maria Teixeira 18 Sara Magalhaes 19 Ines Barbosa 20 Marion Mazer 21 Beatriz Oliveira 22 Marta Pedro 23 Mariana Santos
Head Coach: Joao Moura

Netherlands:

1 Nicky Dix 2 Anoushka Beukers 3 Brechtje Karst 4 Inger Jongerius 5 Isa Prins 6 Elisabeth Boot 7 Mariet Luijken 8 Linde van der Velden (captain) 9 Esmee Ligtvoet 10 Jet Anita Metz 11 Gaya van Nifterik 12 Pien Selbeck 13 Isa Spoler 14 Senne Hoog 15 Jordan Heil

Bench: 16 Sydney de Weijer 17 Supartie van Heerde 18 Julia Morauw 19 Julia Verhoeven 20 Mhina de Vos 21 Quen Makkinga 22 Marit Lemmens 23 Lieve Stallmann
Head Coach: Sylke Haverkorn

Referee: Jenny Lee (Spain)

Coming fixtures:

Portugal v Sweden; 9 March, Jamor Lisbon, 16:00

NL v Colombia, 16 March, Amsterdam, 14:00

Memo: all games under the Rugby Europe banner are viewable on rugbyeurope.tv

The big game is Portugal v Netherlands – details below.

After outclassing Sweden 59-0 on 3 February in Amsterdam, the Oranjes have got their European Championship hopes off to a positive start. The DJ on duty may have thought he was being overworked as he was required to spew another number on to the airwaves after every try.

It was good to see a well-filled stand watching on. Spectators had plenty to admire about their team. They jumped to a 37-0 lead at half-time, and hardly let up afterwards.

Dutch eyes have been fixed on another meeting with Spain for some time. Las Leonas have proved much the strongest of the European teams beyond the Six Nations; last time the two teams met Spain won convincingly. But the Dutch head coach, Sylke Haverkorn, must have been delighted with this latest showing. Since November she has been assisted by three coaches who steered the men’s Under 20 side to success, Gareth Gilbert, Mathew Cripps en Dino Bozic. It sets them up well for coming fixtures against Portugal and Colombia.

That name Colombia may well set you thinking about the World Cup. It was they who provided the dreamiest entry to the latter stages in 2022. But it was their fate to finish last of the eighteen teams on show.

The presence of those three matches within a short period is a positive sign in itself. All too often in the past nations have had to wait impatiently for the next test to pop up. Now, with World Rugby’s positive input, players can gain advantage from meeting up far more regularly.

The Dutch have to battle against their hockey and football sisters, hockey being their great team strength. So at present only one of the national rugby squad plays in England, the captain, Linde van der Velden, at Exeter Chiefs. She was especially delighted to see her team keep a clean sheet. She put that down to their serious approach to the game; they constantly sought out areas that needed improving.

For Sweden this was a setback, but we must bear in mind that they returned to the Euro Championships only last year. Amanda Swartz, their captain and now of Leicester Tigers, was full of optimism for the future, but the programme offered them only two matches in the year, the other being against Spain, who can’t find competition strong enough at this level to feel fully satisfied.

The Swedes had a big boost in travelling to Aldershot to take on the British Army and winning that duel 27-0.

So Rugby Europe’s long-term plan must be to build up the number of matches these predominantly amateur players can enjoy each year. No easy task. And, as everywhere in rugby, difference in standards can become all too quickly obvious.

It’s only a few days since I mentioned Germany’s hoped-for meeting with Belgium on 2 March. We must hope that more and more European nations can meet up like this. Then comes the question: how could the RFU help by offering more contests?

Is it quite impossible for them to arrange, for example, games against age-group sides on a more frequent basis? Amsterdam is closer to London than Edinburgh or Cork.

Coming fixtures

24 February Portugal v Netherlands (details below)
16 March Netherlands v Colombia (Qualifier for RWC 2025)
6 April Netherlands v Spain

All games under the Rugby Europe banner are viewable on rugbyeurope.tv

Portugal v Netherlands, Jamor, Portugal; KO 12.30, local time

De Oranjes will be aware that As Lobas take their rugby extremely seriously.

Teams:

Portugal

1 Carlota Torres 2 Ines Cristo Ventura Marques 3 Beatriz Rodrigues 4 Ana Casas 5 Ana Fernandes 6 Laura Pereira 7 Arleta Consalves 8 Adelina Costa 9 Ana Santos 10 Isabel Osorio 11 Antonia Martins 12 Maria Costa 13 Mariana Marques 14 Ines Spinola 15 Daniela Correia

Bench: 16 Elsa Santos 17 Maria Teixeira 18 Sara Magalhaes 19 Ines Barbosa 20 Marion Mazer 21 Beatriz Oliveira 22 Marta Pedro 23 Mariana Santos
Head Coach: Joao Moura

Netherlands:
1 Nicky Dix 2 Anoushka Beukers 3 Brechtje Karst 4 Inger Jongerius 5 Isa Prins 6 Elisabeth Boot 7 Mariet Luijken 8 Linde van der Velden (captain) 9 Esmee Ligtvoet 10 Jet Anita Metz 11 Gaya van Nifterik 12 Pien Selbeck 13 Isa Spoler 14 Senne Hoog 15 Jordan Heil

Bench: 16 Sydney de Weijer 17 Supartie van Heerde 18 Julia Morauw 19 Julia Verhoeven 20 Mhina de Vos 21 Quen Makkinga 22 Marit Lemmens 23 Lieve Stallmann
Head Coach: Sylke Haverkorn

Referee: Jenny Lee (Spain)