Brazil national rugby union team

Brasilien

Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname	Os Tupis
Emblem	Tupí chief
Union	Confederação Brasileira de Rugby
Head coach	Rodolfo Ambrosio
Captain	Nick Smith
Top scorer	Daniel Gregg (143)
Top try scorer	Daniel Gregg (14)
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	35 (as of 9 May 2016)
Highest	27 (2009, 2011)
Lowest	42 (2015)
First international
Uruguay 8 − 6 Brazil (9 September 1950)
Biggest win
Costa Rica 0 − 95 Brazil (10 October 2006)
Biggest defeat
Argentina 114 − 3 Brazil (10 October 1992) Argentina 111 − 0 Brazil (5 May 2012)
World Cup
Appearances	0
Website	www.brasilrugby.com.br

The Brazil national rugby union team, nicknamed Os Tupis, is the national side of Brazil, representing them in international rugby union. Rugby union in Brazil is controlled by the Confederação Brasileira de Rugby. Brazil is one of the founding unions of CONSUR (now Sudamérica Rugby) and played in the inaugural 1951 edition. Brazil has not qualified for a Rugby World Cup, but will participate in the inaugural edition of rugby 7s in the Olympics.

Rugby union in Brazil has a long history, dating back to the late 19th century when British immigrants brought the game to Brazil's urban ports. Despite Brazil's success in association football, Brazil has historically been one of the weaker teams of the Americas, having less success than that of Argentina, Uruguay or Chile. Brazil have usually ranked 4th in South America, and rugby has lived in the shadows of other sports in Brazil.

In the 21st century, efforts were made to revitalize the sport in Brazil. With sevens being added to the Olympic calendar, Brazil were invited to the World Rugby Sevens Series, where they've improved in both men's and women's sides. In 2014, they recorded their first victory ever against Chile, winning 24-16. In 2016, a meeting with the unions of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the United States and Uruguay established the Americas Rugby Championship, meant to mirror the Six Nations and The Rugby Championship, and give consistent tests to the top Americas unions. After 3 close games, two of which Brazil came very close to victory, Brazil beat the United States, 24-23, their first victory in the championship, as well as over the United States, and a Tier Two nation.

History

Beginnings (19th Century - 1949)

The very first instance of rugby being played in Brazil dates back to the late 19th century. British immigrants arriving in Brazil brought the game to various port cities in Brazil. These immigrants set up various athletic clubs which doubled with association football. The first recorded instance of a rugby game being played in Brazil was 1891, played by the São Paulo Athletic Club, under the auspices of Charles William Miller. Future efforts to promote the game were then taken on by Augusto Shaw, after Miller began to devote himself exclusively to football.

During the 1920s and 1930s, rugby began to flourish somewhat in Brazil, although it did not enjoy the widespread exposure as football. For the most part, rugby was primarily restricted to those who had British descent, or with some other connection to Britain. In 1926, proper domestic competition was established. By 1932, a national side had formed; Brazil played its first ever national game against a South Africa XV, losing by an unknown margin. The sport suffered a setback when an attempt to get it recognized as a national sport was denied, since rugby was limited to only four states than the required five. World War II suspended operations from 1941 to 1946, as was the case in many countries.

1950s - 1990s

Brazil participated in the first ever South American Rugby Championship, but lost all three of their fixtures. They were shut out 68 and 72 to zero against Chile and Argentina respectively, while Brazil played a more closer game against Uruguay, losing 10 – 17. During the 1950s, organization of rugby in Brazil was sporadic; there was no official high governing union at the time, and the national side was only organized by Jimmy Macintyre, who ran the SPAC. Brazil would not play another test until 1961. The modern day Brazilian Rugby Confederation (CBRu) was founded in 1963, in order to govern the game more efficiently in the country. The first president of the CBRu was Harry Donovan. In 1964, Brazil finished runner-up in the South American Rugby Championship, tying Chile 16–16 and defeating Uruguay 15–8.

In the 1970s the better structure of rugby allowed the game to be introduced to Brazilians outside of the British-descended community. Brazil experienced somewhat of an expansion in rugby; the game was introduced to universities throughout the country, and Brazil was becoming a destination for rugby tours. In 1974, Brazil played a test match against France, losing by a margin of 7–99. For the rest of the decade Brazil played against its South American neighbors; Brazil frequently beat minnows Paraguay during this period.

In 1985, France toured Brazil again, but this time Brazil played much more valiantly, losing by a score of 6–41. Brazil is a charter member of CONSUR (now Sudámerica Rugby), founded in 1989. Despite this, Brazil did not officially join the IRB until 1995, and did not participate in qualifying tournaments until then. However, their first fixture in the qualifiers was a disaster; Brazil were humiliated by Trinidad and Tobago by a score of 41–0, swiftly ending their campaign.

2000s - The New Century

Brazil began the 2000s with much more success. In 2000, Brazil easily won the 2000 edition of the SARC; they repeated this in 2001, topping the group of Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela. Brazil advanced to the next round of qualifying, disposing of Trinidad and Tobago; Brazil would go on to lose their final games, but Brazil was finally starting to close the gap. Throughout the 2000s, Brazil began winning more of its games, and in 2008, finally broke through; Brazil beat Paraguay to finally advance to the top flight of the SARC, their first time there since 1989. Brazil further repeated this by beating Paraguay again in 2009.

In 2012, the New York Times reported that rugby was Brazil's second fastest growing sport, behind MMA. This is partly due to World Rugby re-investing in Brazil due to the reinstatement of rugby in the 2016 Olympics. Since then, Brazil has been invited to the World Rugby Sevens Series, allowing Brazil to improve against higher competition.

In 2014, Brazil recorded its first ever victory over Chile, defeating the Condors 24 to 16. Since initiatives were taken in 2009; the character of rugby has changed in Brazil; the registration numbers have risen, and the sport has successfully formed sponsorships with companies such as Bradesco, many of whom see Brazilian rugby profitable in the future.

In 2015, Brazil played two tetss against the national team of Germany, one held in Pacaembu Stadium; these exhibitions attracted 10,000 spectators, being one of the highest attendances for rugby in Brazil. Brazil's improved form showed in 2016 in the first edition of the Americas Rugby Championship, where Brazil were on the verge of historic victories against Chile and Uruguay, but could not hold on. After scoring 25 points in their first ever fixture versus Canada, Brazil went on to upset the United States 24–23 in Pacaembu; Brazil proceeded to finish off the tournament losing 7–41 to Argentina, scoring their first try against Argentina in decades.

For the 2016 South American Rugby Championship "A", RedeTV!, one of Brazil's major TV networks, will air Brazil's games live. Brazil played Uruguay at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, one of the largest stadiums to ever host a rugby game in Brazil. Brazil tied 20–20 against Chile, further signaling their rise to the top in South America. To cap off the tournament, Brazil beat Paraguay 32–21, finishing in third place only behind Chile on points difference.

Uniforms

Traditionally, the rugby team of Brazil has worn a strip of a yellow top and green shorts while the away strip consists of a green top and white shorts. The current provider of the kit is domestic based Topper. In 2015, the shorts were changed to blue, to be consistent of that of Brazil's football team; this included a presentation involving the Tupí tribe, whom the team is nicknamed after. The current shirt sponsor of Brazil is Bradesco.

Nickname

For some time, Brazilian national rugby union side was unofficially associated with Walt Disney's character Zé Carioca. Some time later, CBRu, still known as Associação Brasileira de Rugby, or simply ABR, chose Vitória Régia as its official emblem and nickname. However, this nickname was not adopted by fans.

In March 2012, CBRu announced Os Tupis as Brazil national rugby union team's official nickname, a reference to Tupi people, the main ethnic group of Brazilian indigenous people. The choice for an emblem started in 2010, when CBRu started receiving e-mails with several suggestions. The three finalists were Tupis, Sucuris (Anacondas) and Araras (Macaws). Fans voted on an Internet poll and chose Tupis with 47% (4,387 votes) of preference. According to CBRu's President, Sami Arap, "The choice ratified the roots of Brazilian people. Tupi represents the essence of our country, referring to [our] strength, perseverance, loyalty and team spirit".

Tournament records

Rugby World Cup

World Cup record									World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	Played	Won	Drew	Lost	Pts F	Pts A		P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	Not invited								—
1991	Did not enter								Did not enter
1995
1999	Did not qualify								1	0	0	1	0	41
2003									6	4	0	2	140	84
2007									5	3	0	2	179	108
2011									8	6	0	2	230	190
2015									5	1	0	4	85	164
Total	0/8								25	14	0	11	634	587

South American Championship

Main article: South American Rugby Championship

Tourney	Host	Record	Pts Diff	Position	Wins	Draws	Losses
2009	Uruguay	1–2	−129	4th	Paraguay (36–21)	-	Uruguay (3–71), Chile (3–79)
2010	Chile	1–2	−34	4th	Paraguay (23–18)	-	Uruguay (10–26), Chile (8–31)
2011	Argentinien	1–2	−3	4th	Paraguay (51–14)	-	Uruguay (18–39), Chile (6–25)
2012	Chile	0–3	−136	4th	-	-	Uruguay (15–27), Chile (6–19), Argentina (0–111)
2013	Uruguay	0–3	−150	4th	-	-	Chile (22–38), Uruguay (7–58), Argentina (0–83)
2014	(four countries)	1–2	−24	3rd	Chile (24–16)	-	Paraguay (24–31), Uruguay (9–34)
2015	(four countries)	0–3	−77	4th	-	-	Uruguay (9–48), Chile (3–32), Paraguay (11–17)
2016	(four countries)	1–1–1	−11	3rd	Paraguay (32–21)	Chile (20–20)	Uruguay (14–36)

Overall record

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Argentinien	13	0	13	0	0.00%	47	1054	-1007
Argentina XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	7	42	-35
Kanada	1	0	1	0	0.00%	25	52	-27
Chile	23	1	20	2	4.54%	247	809	-530
Kolumbien	8	8	0	0	100.00%	395	34	+361
Costa Rica	1	1	0	0	100.00%	95	0	+95
France XV	2	0	2	0	0.00%	13	140	-127
Deutschland	2	0	2	0	0.00%	19	60	-39
Hongkong	1	0	1	0	0.00%	3	37	-34
Kenia	2	0	2	0	0.00%	42	45	-3
Mexiko	2	2	0	0	100.00%	126	19	+107
Oxford and Cambridge	2	0	2	0	0.00%	13	102	−89
Paraguay	23	14	9	0	60.86%	459	436	+23
Peru	9	9	0	0	100.00%	404	61	+343
Portugal	1	0	1	0	0.00%	0	68	-68
Trinidad und Tobago	5	4	1	0	80.00%	75	71	+4
Vereinigte Arabische Emirate	1	1	0	0	100.00%	66	3	+63
Vereinigte Staaten	1	1	0	0	100.00%	24	23	+1
Uruguay	24	3	21	0	12.50%	217	829	-612
Venezuela	9	8	1	0	88.88%	256	98	+158
Total	131	52	77	2	39.69%	2533	3983	-1450

Current squad

Brazil's 31-man squad for the 2016 Americas Rugby Championship.

Head Coach: Rodolfo Ambrosio

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Daniel Danielewicz	Hooker	(1982-08-08) 8 August 1982	8	Desterro
Yan Rosetti	Hooker		3	CUBA
Lucas Abud	Prop	(1993-08-26) 26 August 1993	7	SPAC
Vitor Ancina	Prop	(1987-11-24) 24 November 1987	1	Curitiba
Wilton Rebolo	Prop	(1995-08-02) 2 August 1995	2	São José
Caique Silva	Prop		2	CUQ
Jardel Vettorato	Prop	(1985-10-22) 22 October 1985	10	San Diego
Cleber Dias	Lock		1	Wallys
Lucas Piero	Lock	(1991-09-25) 25 September 1991	9	Desterro
Felipe Tissot	Lock	(1988-02-04) 4 February 1988	3	Curitiba
Luiz Gustavo Viera	Lock	(1994-07-14) 14 July 1994	1	Oyonnax
Artur Bergo	Flanker	(1994-03-07) 7 March 1994	1	SPAC
João Luiz da Ros (c)	Flanker	(1982-07-10) 10 July 1982	9	Desterro
Mark Jackson	Flanker	(1987-04-07) 7 April 1987	3	Desterro
Gabriel Paganini	Flanker	(1993-03-04) 4 March 1993	3	São Paulo Saracens
Matheus Wolf	Flanker		3	Joaca
Nick Smith	Number 8	(1986-05-01) 1 May 1986	7	SPAC
Beukes Cremer	Scrum-half	(1987-10-21) 21 October 1987	4	Pasteur
Stefano Giantorno	Scrum-half		2	San Luis
Lucas Duque	Fly-half	(1984-03-15) 15 March 1984	??	São José
David Harvey	Fly-half	(1983-05-20) 20 May 1983	2	NSW Country Eagles
Moisés Duque	Centre	(1988-12-21) 21 December 1988	2	São José
Mateus Estrela	Centre	(1995-11-13) 13 November 1995	3	Niterói
Felipe Sancery	Centre	(1994-05-27) 27 May 1994	0	Albi
Martin Schaefer	Centre	(1989-10-18) 18 October 1989	6	São Paulo
Pedro Lopes	Wing	(1992-12-08) 8 December 1992	5	São José
Lucas Muller	Wing	(1990-02-13) 13 February 1990	2	Desterro
Daniel Sancery	Wing	(1994-05-27) 27 May 1994	0	Albi
Lucas Tranquez	Wing	(1994-03-12) 12 March 1994	11	SPAC
Laurent Bourda-Couhet	Fullback	(1994-07-12) 12 July 1994	1	São Paulo Saracens
Guilherme Coghetto	Fullback	(1992-05-02) 2 May 1992	6	Farrapos

Notable players

• In 2011 Lucas "Tanque" Duque and his brother Moisés Duque were given trials with professional teams in France.
• Since 2015 Luiz Vieira has been playing for the second team of the TOP14 team Oyonnax.

Media coverage

Before 2016, most of Brazil's games were aired through SporTV, a paid television network. In 2016, changes were made to Brazil's broadcasting; more commonly available RedeTV! would air games involving the South American Rugby Championship, while ESPN Brasil holds the rights to the Americas Rugby Championship.

See also

• Rugby union in Brazil
• Brazil national rugby sevens team
• Brazilian Rugby Confederation
• South American Rugby Championship

External links

• Template:Pt icon Confederação Brasileira de Rugby – Official Site
• Brazil on Rugbydata.com
• Portal do Rugby Brazilian rugby news
• RugbyMania.com.br Brazilian look at Rugby News (Portuguese)
• RugbySpirit.com.br Info on Brazilian Rugby (Portuguese)
• [1] rugby blog on Globo.com