Wales vs Portugal Prediction & Betting Tips - Rugby World Cup

Prediction published on 13/09/2023, 18:00  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 16/09/2023 at 03:45 in Rugby World Cup Prediction

Wales take on Portugal in their second match in Pool C of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. They weren't in good form before the start of this tournament but put that all changed against Fiji at the weekend. They won that match 32-26 and with this match being followed by a game against Georgia, they should be in the knockout stages by the time they take on Australia. Wales are ranked eighth in the world and that's eight places higher than their opponents. Warren Gatland has already announced his team for this match and he's made 13 changes. Just Louis Rees-Zammit and Taulupe Faietau remain from the side that played at the weekend. Dewi Lake will be the captain for this match against Portugal.

For Portugal, this is their first match of the tournament. They are in the finals of the Rugby World Cup for only the second time in their history. The only other appearance was back in 2007 when they lost all four of their matches. 38 points were scored in those games but 209 conceded. Over half of those points conceded came against New Zealand who scored 108 against them. They won't want to remember their only match against Wales. That was played in 1994 and they lost 102-11 in a home fixture. Portugal have improved a fair bit since then but still aren't at the top tier level of rugby union. Two of their last three matches have been lost, the only win coming against the USA who failed to qualify for this World Cup. Wales may be fielding a much changed team but they can still win this with ease on a -27.5 points handicap.