Table of Contents
Ireland delivered a ruthless performance to claim their largest-ever Test victory, overwhelming Portugal 106–7 in a historic first capped encounter between the two sides at the Estadio Nacional do Jamor.
The dominant win surpassed Ireland’s previous highest Test score — an 83–3 triumph over the USA in 2000 — setting new national records for points, tries, and winning margin.
Despite missing 17 players currently on British and Irish Lions duty, along with head coach Andy Farrell who is leading the tour in Australia, Ireland’s interim coach Paul O’Connell fielded a youthful side featuring several debutants.
Among them were Alex Kendellen, Hugh Gavin, and Shayne Bolton, with Gavin and Bolton each bagging a brace of tries in a blistering first half.
Ireland ran in eight tries before the break, including scores from debutants, and continued their relentless pressure in the second half with another eight tries.
Kendellen also capped his first Test appearance with a try, while replacements Calvin Nash, Ciaran Frawley, and Ben Murphy added their names to the scoreboard. A penalty try in the final play brought Ireland’s total to 16 tries.
Portugal’s only points came through a second-half try from flanker Nicolas Martins, following a disallowed first-half effort due to a forward pass — a decision made just before technical issues knocked out the Television Match Official (TMO) system for the remainder of the match.
Portugal, who impressed at the 2023 Rugby World Cup with a historic win over Fiji and a draw with Georgia, failed to match the intensity and pace of their Irish opponents.
Their task was made even harder by a mounting injury list, which included the loss of captain Tomas Appleton and his replacement Gabriel Aviragnet. With limited backline cover, back-rower Francisco Almeida was forced to play on the wing.
Ireland opened the scoring less than a minute in, with Stuart McCloskey crashing over following a break from Jack Crowley.
Debutant Tommy O’Brien added two more tries, replicating his scoring form from last week’s win over Georgia.
Captain Craig Casey continued to impress, starting the second-half scoring spree with a quick try.
Cian Prendergast, returning after illness, contributed two powerful tries, matching the scoring exploits of his Connacht teammates Gavin and Bolton.
With this emphatic win, Ireland concluded their summer tour unbeaten and will next face New Zealand in Chicago on November 1.
The commanding performance showcased Ireland’s depth, even in the absence of several top players, and sent a strong signal ahead of the 2027 World Cup cycle.
Final Score:
Portugal 7 – 106 Ireland
Ireland Try Scorers:
Gavin (2), Bolton (2), T. O’Brien (2), McCloskey, Clarkson, Casey, Prendergast (2), Kendellen, Nash, Frawley, Murphy, Penalty Try
Portugal Try Scorer:
Martins
Ireland Next Fixture:
vs New Zealand – November 1, Chicago
