Portugal grit their teeth for chance to shine in France

CAPE TOWN : Captained by a dentist and coached by an insurance salesman, Portugal earned their place at this year’s Rugby World Cup in dramatic fashion with a storybook ending to their qualification campaign, but will be huge underdogs in Pool C.

They were the last team to book their ticket to France as scrumhalf Samuel Marques showed nerves of steel to land a penalty with the final kick of the match and earn a 16-16 draw with the United States.

"It's hard to explain, it's one of the best feelings in the world," Portugal captain Tomas Appleton, a qualified dentist, said at the time.

"For the rugby community this is amazing, we've been missing (from the World Cup) for quite some time and we need a new generation to inspire the kids."

Portugal’s only other appearance came in 2007 when the World Cup was also hosted in France. They lost all four pool games, conceding 209 points in the process, but the expectation is they will be more competitive this time round.

They face Australia, Wales, Fiji and Georgia in their group, and while any sort of victory will be a surprise, they can at least show they have closed the gap on the more established rugby nations.

They lost 38-11 to Georgia in the final of the Rugby Europe Championship in March.

Many of their players feature for lower league clubs in France and so will feel at home, including French-born Marques, 34, who had a spell with Toulouse earlier in his career.

They have one of the best back threes in tier two rugby with try machines Raffaele Storti and Rodrigo Marta on the wings, and fullback Nuno Sousa Guedes. If nothing else, Portugal will be fun to watch.

They are led by French coach Patrice Lagisquet, who juggles his day job in the insurance industry with plotting the