Rugby union does not authorize other matches on Portugal and Japan Day – Rugby

The Portuguese Rugby Union announced, on Friday, that it would not agree to hold any other matches on the day of the match between Portugal and Japan, scheduled for November 13 in Coimbra.

The decision was made “in order to provide everyone who wishes to be able to watch the Portugal-Japan match live”, at the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, a venue “built to host Euro2004” for football.

Among other competitions, the seventh round of the Honors Division, the main Portuguese competitive level, was scheduled for November 13.

“This game will be a great opportunity for Portuguese rugby to assert itself, given the value of the opponent, in the moment it takes place, and essentially, to provide the opportunity to show international entities, national partners and the general public the good moment our team is going through,” FPR justified in its weekly newsletter.

In addition to the challenge of 10th place in the world rankings, Coimbra will host, on the same day, the final of the European Under-20 Championship, a “competition of fundamental importance to the future of rugby in Portugal” and which constitutes “an additional reason for the lack of national competitions on that day,” FPR adds.

As an alternative, FPR suggests that matches be rescheduled for the previous or following days, or postponed to another weekend, and warns that “in the event that clubs cannot reach agreement” on the date and time of a match, “FPR will decide and arrange” the meetings.

Portugal’s governing body for sport, led by Carlos Amado da Silva, also took advantage of the call to “invite Portuguese club presidents to be present at the Presidential Fund at Estádio Cidade de Coimbra to watch Portugal and Japan”.

Portugal’s rugby team welcomes Japan on November 13, with a match scheduled to begin at 17:10 in the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, a week after facing Canada, on November 6, at the Jamor High Performance Center.

The Japanese, who occupy tenth place in the world rankings, are considered the most valuable opponent that the Portuguese national team has faced since the 2007 World Cup when they played in France against Scotland and New Zealand.