Brazil national rugby union team

Brazil
Union Brazilian Rugby Confederation
Nickname(s) Tupis [1]
Coach(es) Rodolfo Ambrosio
Top scorer Daniel Gregg
Most tries Daniel Gregg
Team kit
Change kit
First international
 Uruguay 8 – 6 Brazil 
(1950-09-09)
Largest win
 Costa Rica 0 – 95 Brazil 
(2006-10-16)
Largest defeat
 Argentina 114 – 3 Brazil 
(1993-10-02)
 Argentina 111 – 0 Brazil 
(2012-05-23)

The Brazil national rugby union team (nicknamed Os Tupis)[2] is the national side of Brazil, representing them at rugby union. Brazil is a third tier rugby union side, and have yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup. Rugby union has been growing substantially in Brazil since 2005 and the number of players is currently estimated at over 16,000. Despite that, the sport in the country is still less successful than it is in their neighbors, such as Argentina and Uruguay.

History

Brazil started playing international rugby union matches in the early 1930s, when local team received the Junior Springboks, in 1932, and the British Lions, in 1936. The first match against a South American national team was in 1950 against Uruguay in Montevideo, with Uruguayan victory by 8–6. Brazil continued playing sides like Uruguay, Chile and Argentina through the 1950s and into the 1960s. In the 1970s, Brazil began playing a more diverse range of sides, including heavyweights France XV in 1974, in a 99–2 defeat. From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, Brazil mainly contested matches with Chile, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay.

Brazil returned and went undefeated for seven matches over a period from 2000 to early 2002, playing weaker South American sides like Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. This success has continued and Brazil has been winning the majority of their games in the 2000s. They missed the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Uniforms

From 2010 onwards Topper will sponsor the National Rugby Teams of Brazil. At the end of 2009, Topper presented the new kits:

Home Uniform: Yellow jersey with green details, green shorts and green socks

Away Uniform: Green jersey with yellow trim, white shorts and green socks

Third Uniform: White jersey with green and yellow details, white shorts and white socks

Training Kit: Blue jersey with yellow trim, white shorts and white socks

Nickname

For some time, Brazilian national rugby union side was unofficially associated to 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 didn't reach fans' preference.

Early in March 2012, CBRu announced Os Tupis as Brazil national rugby union team's official nickname,[3] 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 47,16% (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".

Overall Records

Their Test record against all nations:

Team Mat Won Lost Draw % For Aga Diff
 Argentina 12 0 12 0 0.00 47 971 −924
 Chile 19 1 17 1 7.89 180 707 −527
 Colombia 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
 Hong Kong 1 0 1 0 0.00 3 37 −34
 Kenya 1 0 1 0 0.00 25 27 −2
 Mexico 1 1 0 0 100.00 50 14 +36
England Oxford and Cambridge 2 0 2 0 0.00 13 102 −89
 Paraguay 20 11 9 0 55.00 385 389 −4
 Peru 9 9 0 0 100.00 404 61 +343
 Portugal 1 0 1 0 0.00 0 68 −68
 Trinidad and Tobago 5 4 1 0 80.00 75 71 +4
 United Arab Emirates 1 1 0 0 100.00 66 3 +63
 Uruguay 18 3 15 0 16.66 159 603 −444
 Venezuela 9 8 1 0 88.88 256 98 +158
Total 108 47 61 1 43.05 2166 3257 -1091

South American Rugby Championship

Brazil has competed in Division A of the South American Rugby Championship each year since 2009. Brazil's improving performance against its rivals was the subject of a popular series of funny rugby advertisements in Brazil sponsored by Topper with the tag line of "Rugby: It will be big in Brazil."[4]

Tourney Host Record Pts Diff Position Wins 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  Argentina 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)

Note:

Rugby World Cup qualification

Current squad

Name Nickname Squad Position
Ian Korolkovas Pantera Bandeirantes RC Prop
Leonardo Frota Léo Curitiba RC Prop
Alejandro Arce Bolívia Desterro RC Prop
Sergio Jimenez Sergio Desterro RC Prop
Daniel Danielewicz Nativo Desterro RC Hooker
Ramiro Mina Mocho Bandeirantes RC Hooker
André Fujita Harry São José RC Lock
Antonio Górios (c) Tonhão Rio Branco RC Lock
Reges Comoretto Rejão Desterro RC Lock
Jean-Marc Volland Jebran São José RC Lock
Diego Lopez Diegão Pasteur AC Back-Row
João Luiz da Ros Ige Desterro RC Back-Row
Henrique Dantas Henrique São José RC Back-Row
Pedro Rosa Pedro Federal RC Back-Row
Luiz Ricca Cabelo SPAC Back-Row
Julian Menutti Juli Bandeirantes RC Scrum-Half
João Pires Neto Torosso SPAC Scrum-Half
Lucas Duque Tanquinho São José RC Fly-Half
Fernando Portugal Portuga Bandeirantes RC Centre
Giuliano Passini Giuliano Rio Branco RC Centre
Moisés Duque Moisés São José RC Centre
David Grael David Niterói RFC Wing
Felipe Sant`Ana Alemão Heaton Moor RC Wing
Tulio Fiore Tulio São José RC Wing
Daniel Gregg Gregg Niterói RFC Fullback
Erick Monfrinatti Putim São José RC Fullback

Notable players

In 2011 Lucas "Tanque" Duque and his brother Moisés Duque were given trials with professional teams in France.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Tupi is the new emblem of Brazil National Team=BrasilRugby.com – In Portuguese". Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  2. ↑ "Tupi is the new emblem of Brazil National Team=BrasilRugby.com – In Portuguese". Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  3. ↑ "Tupi is the new emblem of Brazil National Team=BrasilRugby.com – In Portuguese". Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  4. ↑ YouTube, Brazilian Rugby Funny Ads, uploaded Jan. 1, 2011, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKnQn-8PFII
  5. ↑ "CONSUR: Brazil make history by defeating Chile in São Paulo", Rugby World Cup Argentina 2013, April 16, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Duque brothers to have trial for teams in France". 16 December 2011.

External links