Why facing Scotland was greater than facing the All Blacks

But not for Pedro Leal, the Portugal legend who did exactly that back in 2007, but said facing Scotland the week before meant more. It was Portugal's first-ever match at a Rugby World Cup. 

For Leal, being part of that team - despite the 56-10 defeat to Frank Hadden's side in Saint Etienne - was a career highlight. 

The 40-year-old, who won 76 caps for his country primarily at fullback but also at scrum-half, spoke to Scotland Rugby News this week to preview Os Lobos' visit to Scottish Gas Murrayfield on Saturday. 

"I have amazing memories," Leal said. 

"We played against Scotland and a week later we were playing the All Blacks. I saw the haka right in front of me, but to be honest, the game against Scotland was even better because it was our first at the World Cup. 

"I remember arriving at the stadium and seeing all the Portugal fans. It was crazy.

"I was the smallest guy on the pitch. I remember the Lamont brothers were big guys, but I remember when we scored our first try.

Leal recalled facing opposite number Rory Lamont when the sides met at the 2007 Rugby World Cup (Image: SNS Group) "That feeling was amazing. We scored one try and we felt like we had won the World Cup. Those are amazing memories." 

Leal said the aim for the game against Frank Hadden's side was to keep the score under the half-century, a feat they almost achieved while scoring a try of their own through winger Pedro Carvalho.

But against the All Blacks, it was one-way traffic, with New Zealand running in 16 tries in a 108-13 demolition. But again there were moments for Leal's side to celebrate, including a try from prop Rui Cordeiro. 

Leal continued: "The guys who didn't play in the game played against the All Blacks guys in a game of football after our match.

"They won the rugby,  but we beat them in the football - and Dan Carter was playing."

While damage limitation was the name of the game against the top sides in Leal's playing days, he is confident Portugal will travel to Murrayfield this weekend with a different outlook. 

Portugal were one of the surprise packages from the World Cup, where they beat Fiji and drew with Georgia (Image: SNS) "They play better rugby than we did in my day," the 40-year-old said. 

"When I used to play, we had a small pack, but now you saw at the World Cup we were competitive in the forwards. Our focus is on attacking rugby."

But Leal acknowledged the squad is in transition, with hooker Mike Tadjer having retired after the World Cup and Nicolas Martins among the influential players missing for this weekend's game. 

He picked out wing Raffaele Storti, who now plays for Stade Francais, as the man to watch for the visitors. 

Asked what success would look like for Portugal - who are coached by former All Black Simon Mannix - Leal said a victory is the ultimate aim, but conceded a defeat by a margin of about 20 points would be an acceptable result. 

"A good result would be about 20 points difference - I would be happy if we can do that. Hopefully they don't score more than 50 points and if we can score one or two tries, we will be happy with that."