Canada rugby men close out their European tour with 33-27 loss to Portugal

The Canadians never led at Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, but went into the break tied 16-16 and were within one score of No. 20 Portugal late in the second half.

Nicolas Martins, Guilherme Vasconcelos and Rodrigo Marta scored tries for Portugal. Vareiro booted four penalties and added three conversions.

Mason Flesch and Morgan Di Nardo scored Canada’s tries. Robbie Povey kicked four penalties and one conversion and Peter Nelson added a penalty.

Both teams have qualified for the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

Portugal pulled ahead 23-16 early in the second half with Vasconcelos touching down in the corner after a Canadian turnover at the breakdown. Canada cut the lead to 23-21 in the 52nd minute, after a string of Portugal penalties near its try-line, with Di Nardo scoring on debut.

After a penalty miss, Vareiro was on target again in the 57th minute to up the lead to 26-21. Povey answered with a kick off his own in the 60th to reduce the deficit to 26-24.

A converted Marta try survived a 64th-minute video review for possible obstruction as Portugal extended its lead to 33-24.

After Povey missed a 67th-minute penalty from distance, Nelson cut the lead to 33-27 with a penalty after Portugal had a man sent to the sin bin, paying the price for a string of penalties.

The teams traded first-half penalties with Vareiro converting kicks in the eighth, 18th and 52nd minute and Povey successful in the 11th and 16th, with a long-range effort.

Canada took advantage of another Portugal penalty to kick for the corner and Flesch crashed over from the ensuing lineout for a converted try and 13-9 lead in the 30th minute. Povey’s penalty kick upped the margin to 16-9 before Martins scored at the back of a maul after Canada was penalized for a high tackle to tie the game at 16-16 at the break.

The Canadians did not help their cause with errant lineouts and some inaccurate kicking.

“Portugal kicked accurately in the first half, put us under a lot of pressure,” said captain Lucas Rumball. “We didn’t, which put us under a lot of pressure on our own. Attacking in the second half, we visited the 22 a few times and didn’t come away with a try — which we need to do if we want to be competitive.”

It marked Canada’s first meeting with Portugal since November 2021 in Lisbon when the Portuguese scored a late try to prevail 20-17 for their first-ever win over the Canadians. Canada had won all four previous meetings.

The Canadian men close out the year with a 1-8-0 record and have lost six straight, all against higher-ranked teams, since a 34-20 win over the 16th-ranked U.S. Eagles in August in Pacific Nations Cup play.

The Canadian starting 15 went into the match with 245 combined caps, with 64 of those belonging to Rumball. The eight-man bench had a combined 121 caps.

Scrum half James Naylor, who plays for England’s Rotherham Titans, made his Canada debut off the bench in the second half.

Portugal, coached by former All Black Simon Mannix, ran in nine tries in defeating No. 23 Hong Kong 58-12 and lost 26-8 to No. 15 Uruguay in its previous November internationals.

In July, an injury-depleted Portugal was hammered 106-7 by No. 4 Ireland, which set records for points, tries (16) and margin of victory.

Portugal impressed at the 2023 World Cup, edging Fiji 24-23 and tying Georgia 18-18 in its second trip to the tournament since 2007.

The Portuguese qualified for the 2027 World Cup by virtue of finishing fourth at the Rugby Europe Championship in March, losing 21-7 to Romania in the third-place game.

Canada booked its ticket via the Pacific Nations Cup.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2025.

The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Canada rugby men close out their European tour with 33-27 loss to Portugal

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