Portugal – Espagne : les compositions officielles dévoilées

Le Portugal et l’Espagne se retrouvent pour un choc au sommet des huitièmes de finale de la Coupe du Monde 2026. Les sélectionneurs ont dévoilé leurs compositions officielles pour cette affiche très attendue, programmée ce lundi à 19h GMT. michezonews.co.za

Le Portugal de Roberto Martínez s’appuiera sur son capitaine Cristiano Ronaldo à la pointe de l’attaque. Le quintuple Ballon d’Or sera accompagné par João Félix et Pedro Neto, tandis que Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha et João Neves animeront l’entrejeu. En défense, Rúben Dias dirigera l’arrière-garde devant le gardien Diogo Costa.

Luis de la Fuente compte sur Lamine Yamal

En face, l’Espagne de Luis de la Fuente mise sur un onze très compétitif. Unai Simón gardera les cages derrière une défense composée de Pedro Porro, Pau Cubarsí, Aymeric Laporte et Marc Cucurella. Au milieu, Rodri et Pedri auront pour mission de contrôler le jeu, alors que Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo et Álex Baena évolueront en soutien de Mikel Oyarzabal.

Cette affiche entre deux favoris du tournoi promet une bataille tactique intense. Le vainqueur validera son billet pour les quarts de finale et poursuivra son rêve de sacre mondial.

Les compositions officielles des deux équipes :

Portugal : Diogo Costa – João Cancelo, Rúben Dias, Renato Veiga, Nuno Mendes – João Neves, Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes – João Félix, Pedro Neto, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Espagne : Unai Simón – Pedro Porro, Pau Cubarsí, Aymeric Laporte, Marc Cucurella – Rodri, Pedri – Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Álex Baena – Mikel Oyarzabal.

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Rassie Erasmus has emphasised the Springboks’ bigger picture after selecting an overhauled match 23 for the world champions’ next Nations Championship assignment.

Erasmus made 10 changes from the starting XV that beat England last week, with only Jesse Kriel, Damian Willemse, Paul de Villiers, Ruan Nortjé and captain Pieter-Steph du Toit retaining their spots to face Scotland at Loftus on Saturday.

Vodacom Bulls duo Handré Pollard and Embrose Papier take charge at halfback.

TEAM: Pollard, Papier take charge of new-look Boks

The reshuffle also sees Aphelele Fassi pair with Edwill van der Merwe and Canan Moodie in the back three, while Boan Venter, Johan Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw form a new-look front row, with Cobus Wiese joining Nortjé in the second row.

Several low-cap players in key positions, like last week’s debutant De Villiers and the returning Papier, will look to the double World Cup-winning experience of Kriel, Pollard, Willemse and Du Toit for guidance.

MORE: Rassie bullish about Papier’s role

Asked during Monday’s press conference if Scotland’s 47-38 win over Argentina in Córdoba had any bearing on his selections, Erasmus took the opportunity to highlight the importance of building depth ahead of next year’s World Cup.

“No, Scotland’s win didn’t play a role at all. This team was not picked for specific reasons surrounding Scotland,” the Bok coach said.

“It was for us to make sure that when we go into the World Cup next year, we know who can do what, when and how, and under pressure and not under pressure. Some combinations were picked more with that in mind.

“Scotland played really well, I thought. They’re obviously a good team. I mean, they beat England in the Six Nations. So if you just go on those results, then probably this match will be tougher than last weekend.”

PLUS: Eben in a race to face All Blacks

Erasmus pointed to Los Pumas’ lack of preparation as a factor in their loss, while acknowledging his troops face a similar challenge against Scotland given the scale of changes made.

“You could see Argentina, very few of their players play in Argentina and it’s very tough in the first game. They didn’t even have a warm-up game and their coach Felipe Contepomi was a week before that in Port Elizabeth with the Barbarians.

“The southern hemisphere teams normally take a game or two to get some good rhythm and cohesion and for us, if you look at the team, there’s a lot of changes,” he added.

“When we get to Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry we are really in sync and we’ve played a lot together. But it’s tough after seven months just to play a game.

“These guys this weekend will have to find their feet really quickly. Not necessarily a scoreboard start, but an intense start.”

Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images

The post This Bok team ‘not picked’ to beat Scotland appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.

Le FC Fleury a officiellement depuis ce lundi, un nouvel entraîneur pour son équipe féminine, Antoine Ponroy.

Le FC Fleury 91 a officialisé, ce lundi, la nomination d’Antoine Ponroy comme entraîneur principal de l’équipe féminine d’Arkema Première Ligue. Ancien joueur du club entre 2018 et 2022 en National 2 pour 44 matchs disputé (1 but), l’ancien défenseur était depuis 2023 entraîneur adjoint de l’équipe première féminine. L’an dernier, Fleury avait terminé à la cinquième place du championnat.

« Présent au club depuis trois saisons en qualité d’entraîneur adjoint, il prend désormais la tête des Lionnes pour poursuivre le développement du projet sportif floriacumois », a salué le club de l’Essonne. Entraîneur des U17, mais aussi des U19 d’Orléans lors de la saison 2022-2023, il avait rejoint l’Essonne en août 2023.

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Rassie Erasmus is excited to have the in-form Embrose Papier back with the Springboks, and expects his partnership with Handré Pollard to be beneficial at Loftus on Saturday.

Papier, who earned all seven of his Test caps under Erasmus in 2018, returns to the fold on the back of a standout Vodacom Bulls campaign that saw him named South Africa’s URC Player of the Season.

He will partner Bulls teammate Handré Pollard at halfback against Scotland this week, in a new-look lineup for the world champions that features 10 changes from the starting XV that beat England in Joburg last week.

TEAM: Pollard, Papier take charge of new-look Boks

Speaking to the media in Pretoria on Monday, Papier admitted there are always butterflies before pulling on the green and gold jersey, but he’s relishing his first Bok start in seven years.

“There’s always nerves before a Test match but I’m super excited for the opportunity and yeah, we are just looking forward to the game,” the 29-year-old said.

Erasmus explained the thinking behind recalling Papier after such a long absence from the Test arena.

“Firstly, I thought he played really well this season,” Erasmus said. “Obviously, we’ve had guys like Faf de Klerk, Cobus Reinach and Jaden Hendrikse who were really well established that played for us at scrumhalf.

“There were really a bunch of good nines playing well and sometimes it’s not because one player is not playing well enough or not Springbok class. It’s just because there’s some other guys who’re also playing really well.

“But I think none of us can look past the fact with how well Embrose played this year,” he added. “There’s been some injuries and there’s some guys who lost form and he gathered form, if I can call it that way.

“I’m very happy for him personally and obviously for us, it’s nice to have him on board.

“He gets his opportunity at home with Handré, who he’s played a lot of rugby with. So hopefully that also helps him, at a field he is familiar with.”

MORE: Rassie finds the ‘right fit’ to face Scots

Erasmus also touched on the strong Bulls presence throughout the match 23, with Papier, Pollard and Canan Moodie in the backline, while Cobus Wiese and Ruan Nortjé link up in the second row alongside Wilco Louw and Johan Grobbelaar up front.

“I think Handré can play with most nines and Embrose can play with most 10s, but it is definitely beneficial when the two of them went through to a URC final together,” the Bok boss said.

“The pack, we didn’t necessarily look at Bulls combinations. It was actually just seeing who’s fit first of all, and then who we’d like to see perform well.

“Our average caps I think must be 25 caps, which is not a lot. There’s 11, 12 guys who’ve got less than 10 caps. We will definitely go into this match with a much less experienced team compared to Scotland, so this will be a nice test for a lot of these guys.”

PLUS: Eben in a race to face All Blacks

Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images

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