The retiring hooker Mike Tadjer hopes that Os Lobos’ impressive Rugby World Cup will drive interest in the sport back at home
The Portugal hooker Mike Tadjer is overcome by emotion after his side’s first-ever World Cup win in his final international.The Portugal hooker Mike Tadjer is overcome by emotion after his side’s first-ever World Cup win in his final international.Mon 9 Oct 2023 23.09 CEST
The Portugal hooker Mike Tadjer believes his side have proved to their country that “rugby exists” after their thrilling first ever World Cup win against Fiji on Sunday.thanks to Rodrigo Marta’s late try and Samuel Marques’ nerveless conversion. As a result, Portugal have moved up to 13th in the world rankings, leapfrogging Tonga, Samoa and Georgia, with whom they drew earlier in the competition.
It was some way for Tadjer to bring the curtain down on his career, having taken the decision in May to hang up his boots at the end of Portugal’s World Cup campaign. “For us it’s amazing,” said Tadjer. “I’m really proud. It’s the perfect finish. We played well during the first three games but didn’t win. But we are really happy.
“I hope it can spark interest in Portugal,” the 34-year-old added. “That’s what we said before the tournament – we wanted to show Portugal rugby exists. We hope the biggest people can find more and more to keep Portuguese rugby growing. As you know, the most famous sport in Portugal is football and we are in a little place. We hope that’s going to be different going forward.
“In France, there are a lot of Portuguese ,” Tadjer added. “The atmosphere was really good for us. He now hopes Portugal’s impressive showing in France will lead to more opportunities against established nations.“We need to compete with the toughest, biggest teams, like Australia or Fiji to gain more experience, even if we concede 50 points. We need to work hard to keep this level high in the Portuguese rugby world.
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