LYON, France (Reuters) – Portugal coach Patrice Lagisquet has made four changes to his pack for the Pool C match against Australia in Saint Etienne on Sunday.
Number eight Thibault de Freitas and blindside flanker David Wallis come into the back row after starting on the bench in the 18-18 draw against Georgia last time out.
Martim Belo returns to the second row in place of Jose Madeira and David Costa makes his first start of the tournament at loosehead prop.
Nuno Sousa Guedes retains his place at fullback despite missing a late penalty against Georgia which would have given Portugal a first World Cup win.
After stacking his bench with six forwards to counteract Georgia’s power up front last week, Lagisquet has restored an extra back to his replacements for Sunday’s game.
Team:
15-Nuno Sousa Guedes, 14-Raffaele Storti, 13-Pedro Bettencourt, 12-Tomas Appleton (captain), 11-Rodrigo Marta, 10-Jeronimo Portela, 9-Samuel Marques, 8-Thibault de Freitas, 7-Nicolas Martins, 6-David Wallis, 5-Martim Belo, 4-Jose Madeira, 3-Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 2-Mike Tadjer, 1-David Costa
Replacements: 16-Francisco Fernandes, 17-Duarte Diniz, 18-Francisco Bruno, 19-Steevy Cerqueira, 20-Rafael Simoes, 21-Joao Belo, 22-Joris Moura, 23-Manuel Cardoso Pinto.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Ken Ferris)
